Taku Elementary

Taku Elementary is a small pre-K–6 school in the Anchorage School District, serving about 258 students in a high-need Anchorage neighborhood where roughly three-quarters of families qualify for free/reduced lunch. Over the past decade, the school has consistently ranked in Alaska's bottom 20%, though it has seen occasional upticks. In 2025-26, Taku ranked 144th out of 166 Alaska elementary schools, and its proficiency rates sat roughly 15 percentage points behind the district in both English language arts (20.9% vs. 36.0%) and math (20.2% vs. 35.7%).

Compared with other zoned elementary schools nearby, Taku is in the lower-middle of the pack. It outperforms Chinook Elementary and Spring Hill Elementary in all tested subjects and is competitive with Northwood ABC, but it trails several neighbors, including Gladys Wood Elementary, Willow Crest Elementary, and Kasuun Elementary. The most striking contrast, however, is with choice schools within a mile or two: Rilke Schule Charter School (ranked 10th in the state), Northern Lights ABC K-8 School (27th), and Campbell STEM Elementary (104th) all post proficiency rates dramatically higher than Taku's—often by 40 or more percentage points.

There are some reasons for cautious optimism. During the 2023-24 school year, Taku climbed to the 30th percentile, posted near-state-average math scores, and saw science proficiency (38.5%) rise just above the state average. That year, the school also served its low-income students relatively well, ranking in the 43rd percentile statewide for that group—better than the school's overall rank. Still, those gains did not hold, and because the school is small—each tested grade has only 30–50 students—year-to-year swings can be driven by a handful of students. Families should also note that Taku's student-teacher ratio (18.5 to 1) is higher than most nearby elementaries, and its per-pupil spending is lower than several comparable high-poverty schools.