Fruitland Elementary, Puyallup WA

Original Research by School Decision on Fruitland Elementary

Fruitland Elementary is a regular public school serving kindergarten through sixth grade in the Puyallup School District. The student body is diverse, with a majority of white students and substantial shares of students who identify as two or more races, Hispanic, and Asian, alongside smaller Black, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaska Native populations. More than a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

Academically, the school shows a profile worth understanding subject by subject. In English language arts, proficiency rates vary notably by grade, with the fifth grade posting a level that is one of the school’s strongest results, while the other tested grades sit lower. Math results follow a pattern common across many elementary schools, with stronger performance in the earlier grades and a notable decline by sixth grade. Science proficiency, tested only in fifth grade, is a clear relative strength. The school’s overall proficiency index, which combines results across tested subjects and grades, places it in the top quartile among all schools within Pierce County, indicating a comparatively strong performance relative to other schools in the same geographic area. Because only one year of testing data was available, no trend can be established.

For a school that ends at grade six, there is no graduation rate to consider, so that standard metric does not apply here.

Fruitland Elementary sits within the city of Puyallup, a community that blends a historic downtown core along Pioneer Avenue with more recent suburban development on South Hill. The city’s identity is shaped by the Washington State Fairgrounds, a year-round events venue, and by its agricultural past in berries and daffodils. The downtown area is walkable and features a farmers’ market that operates Saturdays from spring through fall, while much of the rest of the city is auto-oriented and served by Pierce Transit buses and Sounder commuter rail. The Puyallup School District is the ninth-largest in Washington, and as of early 2024, a voter-approved bond is funding the construction of a new elementary school, the replacement of two existing elementary schools, and various district-wide safety and infrastructure upgrades. That bond comes with a lasting property tax increase. At the same time, the district approved elementary boundary changes in 2023 to address enrollment imbalances and prepare for the new school, meaning a family moving to the area may find their assigned attendance zone shifting. The district also implemented budget reductions for the most recent school year, cutting staffing and programs in response to declining enrollment and the expiration of federal pandemic relief funds. These conditions shape the financial and operational context at Fruitland.

The housing market in the area is priced above the national median but somewhat below the state median, with rents that are a meaningful share of a typical household’s income. The neighborhood immediately surrounding Fruitland Avenue consists largely of single-family residential streets, typical of a suburban setting near downtown. The school itself is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and data on Title I status, discipline rates, and staffing levels were not available in the material provided. A parent looking into the school may want to ask the district about class sizes, special education and English learner support, and how the recent boundary changes and budget reductions affect this particular attendance area.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 370%

School 70% · District 53% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 463%

School 63% · District 50% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 39% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 645%

School 45% · District 41% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 359%

School 59% · District 47% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 25% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 583%

School 83% · District 33% · ▲ 50 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 663%

School 63% · District 32% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Science

Grade 574%

School 74% · District 55% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

This schoolPuyallup School District, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income62%Higher-income57%5 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income54%Higher-income62%8 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income70%Higher-income89%20 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income48%Higher-income69%21 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income61%Higher-income75%14 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income50%Higher-income69%19 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income22%Higher-income81%59 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income36%Higher-income48%12 pp gap