Browns Point Elementary School, Tacoma WA

Original Research by School Decision on Browns Point Elementary School

Browns Point Elementary sits in the Tacoma School District, serving students from kindergarten through fifth grade. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, on the northeast side of the city. For a family looking at elementary options in Tacoma, this school presents a clear picture of strong academic performance within a relatively stable, primarily residential corner of the district.

The student body is just under five hundred children. The composition is predominantly white, with a notable share of students who identify as two or more races, followed by Asian and Hispanic students, and a small Black student population. Slightly more than one in five students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a lower rate than many schools in the district and reflects the area's above-average local housing values.

State test results are the central strength here. In English language arts, proficiency rates climb across the grades, reaching a high point in fifth grade. Math proficiency is consistent and broadly above the midpoint of what one sees across tested grades. Science results, tested in fifth grade, are also strongly positive. When the school's overall performance across tested subjects is compared to other elementary schools within Pierce County, it lands in the top quartile. That is a meaningful distinction and suggests instruction and student preparation are working well across the board. The data covers only a single school year, so no trend direction is available.

Because this is an elementary school, there is no graduation rate, no data on chronic absenteeism, and no course access information for advanced or career pathways. Discipline data and staffing ratios were also not available. A parent may wish to ask the school directly about class sizes, special education support, and enrichment programs, as those details are not part of the public data reviewed here.

The school is part of Tacoma Public Schools, a large urban district that operates schools across a range of neighborhoods. Tacoma itself is a mid-sized port city and the county seat of Pierce County. Its economy is anchored by healthcare, retail, educational services, and the Port of Tacoma, along with the nearby Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The city contains a mix of walkable districts like Proctor and the downtown Museum District, but it is largely car-dependent overall. Population growth has been steady in recent years, and housing costs have risen, with home values in the zip code serving this school above the state average. Rents have also been increasing.

The district brief for Tacoma Public Schools was searched for recent news about school closures or boundary changes, but the publicly reported information available at the time of this research was limited. A parent moving into the attendance area or considering this school should verify current boundaries directly with the district, as those can shift.

Overall, Browns Point Elementary offers consistently strong academic results in a school that appears to serve a relatively lower-poverty population than the district average. The peer environment is diverse in its mix of racial and ethnic backgrounds. For a family whose priority is solid elementary test performance in a neighborhood school setting within the Tacoma district, this school warrants a close look. The main open questions involve the classroom experience and support structures that are not captured in the available data.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 367%

School 67% · District 42% · ▲ 25 pts above district

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

Grade 470%

School 70% · District 33% · ▲ 37 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 37% · ▲ 34 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 365%

School 65% · District 18% · ▲ 46 pts above district

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

Grade 480%

School 80% · District 46% · ▲ 34 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 585%

School 85% · District 25% · ▲ 60 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Science

Grade 588%

School 88% · District 49% · ▲ 39 pts above district

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

This schoolTacoma 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-income65%Higher-income65%0 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income68%Higher-income92%23 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income77%Higher-income65%12 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income47%Higher-income79%32 pp gap