Best Public Schools in Gig Harbor, WA

Summary:

Gig Harbor, Washington, is served by 14 schools within the highly-ranked Peninsula School District, offering education from elementary through high school, including one alternative high school, in this suburban community.

Overall, the district performs well above state averages, with standout schools including Purdy Elementary School (top elementary), Kopachuck Middle School (top middle school), and Gig Harbor High, which has shown remarkable improvement in recent years. In comparison, Minter Creek Elementary faces academic challenges and Henderson Bay Alt High School, while receiving the highest funding, has the district's lowest test scores and highest dropout rate.

A key trend across the district is a significant decline in math scores from elementary to high school, and a noticeable dip in 4th-grade performance at several elementary schools. There is no clear link between per-student spending and outcomes, as some lower-funded schools perform very well. The data suggests families can expect strong elementary performance district-wide, but should be aware of varying program strengths and challenges at the middle and high school levels.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Immunizations Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				WCAS Science (2025)				SBAC English Language Arts (2025)								SBAC Math (2025)								% Completely Immunized (2024)	% Polio (2024)	% Measles (2024)	% Mumps (2024)	% Rubella (2024)	% Diphtheria (2024)	% Hepatitis B (2024)	% Varicella (2024)	% Pertussis (2024)	% Tetanus (2024)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	WCAS Science 5th Grade	WCAS Science 8th Grade	WCAS Science 11th Grade	WCAS Science All Grades	SBAC English Language Arts 3rd Grade	SBAC English Language Arts 4th Grade	SBAC English Language Arts 5th Grade	SBAC English Language Arts 6th Grade	SBAC English Language Arts 7th Grade	SBAC English Language Arts 8th Grade	SBAC English Language Arts 10th Grade	SBAC English Language Arts All Grades	SBAC Math 3rd Grade	SBAC Math 4th Grade	SBAC Math 5th Grade	SBAC Math 6th Grade	SBAC Math 7th Grade	SBAC Math 8th Grade	SBAC Math 10th Grade	SBAC Math All Grades	% Completely Immunized KG	% Polio KG	% Measles KG	% Mumps KG	% Rubella KG	% Diphtheria KG	% Hepatitis B KG	% Varicella KG	% Pertussis KG	% Tetanus KG	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Artondale Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	6219 40th Street NW	Gig Harbor	98335	Pierce County	Peninsula School District	No	No	No	No	(253) 530-1100	413	24	17.2	16.7%	334 (80.9%)	3 (0.7%)	27 (6.5%)	3 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (10.9%)	86.9	141^st of 1160 public elementary schools	87.8%		77.3	249^th of 1168 public elementary schools	78.7%	108	71.4			71.4	74.2	67.4	76.6					73.4	83.9	65.3	59.7					69.2	94.1	96.1	98.0	98.0	98.0	94.1	96.1	96.1	94.1	94.1	$19,219	$395	$18,824
Discovery Elementary School	Public	K-5	4905 Rosedale St NW	Gig Harbor	98335	Pierce County	Peninsula School District	No	No	No	No	(253) 530-1200	380	21	18.0	25.3%	289 (76.1%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (11.3%)	9 (2.4%)	3 (0.8%)	1 (0.3%)	35 (9.2%)	86.9	144^th of 1160 public elementary schools	87.6%		89.3	120^th of 1168 public elementary schools	89.7%	24	78.4			78.4	61.4	70.7	78.4					70.9	69.6	74.1	63.5					68.6	92.9	95.2	97.6	97.6	97.6	95.2	95.2	95.2	95.2	95.2	$16,737	$429	$16,308
Goodman Middle School	Public	6-8	3701 38th Ave NW	Gig Harbor	98335	Pierce County	Peninsula School District	No	No	No	No	(253) 530-1600	519	26	20.2	21.0%	370 (71.3%)	6 (1.2%)	73 (14.1%)	9 (1.7%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	59 (11.4%)	79.9	95^th of 534 public middle schools	82.2%		80.3	89^th of 535 public middle schools	83.4%	6		63.4		63.4				63.4	78.4	71.2		71.3				47.4	48.0	51.2		48.9											$16,630	$232	$16,398
Harbor Heights Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	4002 36th St NW	Gig Harbor	98335	Pierce County	Peninsula School District	No	No	No	No	(253) 530-1800	397	25	16.0	20.9%	273 (68.8%)	8 (2.0%)	57 (14.4%)	9 (2.3%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.5%)	47 (11.8%)	90.7	103^rd of 1160 public elementary schools	91.1%		88.4	126^th of 1168 public elementary schools	89.2%	23	87.7			87.7	79.3	60.0	86.2					75.3	88.7	68.3	69.2					74.7	93.4	93.4	93.4	93.4	93.4	93.4	95.1	93.4	93.4	93.4	$20,871	$249	$20,622
Peninsula High School	Public	9-12	14105 Purdy Dr NW	Gig Harbor	98332	Pierce County	Peninsula School District	No	No	No	No	(253) 530-4400	1,345	63	21.1	26.1%	963 (71.6%)	15 (1.1%)	156 (11.6%)	32 (2.4%)	7 (0.5%)	7 (0.5%)	162 (12.0%)	73.1	92^nd of 438 public high schools	79.0%		70.2	112^th of 437 public high schools	74.4%	20			58.7	58.7							72.7	72.7							43.5	43.5											$16,933	$306	$16,627
Purdy Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	13815 62nd Ave NW	Gig Harbor	98332	Pierce County	Peninsula School District	No	No	No	No	(253) 530-4600	483	30	15.8	20.7%	390 (80.7%)	2 (0.4%)	45 (9.3%)	5 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (8.5%)	91.4	93^rd of 1160 public elementary schools	92.0%		90.4	107^th of 1168 public elementary schools	90.8%	14	81.9			81.9	68.1	80.0	83.8					78.2	66.7	81.2	72.4					73.7	90.6	90.6	93.8	93.8	93.8	90.6	93.8	90.6	90.6	90.6	$18,518	$258	$18,260
Gig Harbor High	Public	9-12	5101 Rosedale St NW	Gig Harbor	98335	Pierce County	Peninsula School District	No	No	No	No	(253) 530-1400	1,375	53	26.0	15.0%	1,059 (77.0%)	12 (0.9%)	146 (10.6%)	20 (1.5%)	3 (0.2%)	2 (0.1%)	129 (9.4%)	85.2	49^th of 438 public high schools	88.8%		73.1	89^th of 437 public high schools	79.6%	40			64.0	64.0							83.6	83.6							51.1	51.1											$14,870	$294	$14,576
Kopachuck Middle School	Public	6-8	10414 56th St NW	Gig Harbor	98335	Pierce County	Peninsula School District	No	No	No	No	(253) 530-4100	516	24	21.9	17.1%	397 (76.9%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (8.3%)	9 (1.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	66 (12.8%)	91.4	45^th of 534 public middle schools	91.6%		91.2	49^th of 535 public middle schools	90.8%	4		66.1		66.1				68.8	77.7	73.8		73.7				67.5	65.0	64.2		65.5											$15,446	$235	$15,211
Minter Creek Elementary	Public	K-5	12617 118th Ave NW	Gig Harbor	98329	Pierce County	Peninsula School District	No	No	No	Yes	(253) 530-4300	272	17	16.1	40.4%	206 (75.7%)	2 (0.7%)	29 (10.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	32 (11.8%)	64.7	380^th of 1160 public elementary schools	67.2%		63.7	399^th of 1168 public elementary schools	65.8%	19	63.8			63.8	51.2	61.4	52.1					54.8	53.5	63.6	52.1					56.3	82.5	87.5	90.0	90.0	90.0	85.0	90.0	87.5	85.0	85.0	$19,445	$911	$18,535
Voyager Elementary	Public	K-5	10615 Kopachuck Dr NW	Gig Harbor	98335	Pierce County	Peninsula School District	No	No	No	No	(253) 530-4800	443	27	16.7	12.2%	359 (81.0%)	2 (0.5%)	33 (7.4%)	13 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (8.1%)	87.5	134^th of 1160 public elementary schools	88.4%		86.4	150^th of 1168 public elementary schools	87.2%	16	74.2			74.2	66.7	68.4	76.4					70.9	75.4	71.1	65.2					70.1	90.2	91.8	93.4	93.4	93.4	90.2	93.4	93.4	90.2	90.2	$16,842	$372	$16,470
Harbor Ridge Middle School	Public	6-8	9010 Prentice Ave	Gig Harbor	98332	Pierce County	Peninsula School District	No	No	No	No	(253) 530-1900	627	28	22.1	18.5%	458 (73.0%)	4 (0.6%)	62 (9.9%)	22 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	79 (12.6%)	84.7	69^th of 534 public middle schools	87.1%		79	93^rd of 535 public middle schools	82.6%	24		72.9		72.9				67.5	63.8	72.1		67.9				56.3	54.3	56.9		55.9											$15,405	$258	$15,147
Henderson Bay Alt High School	Public, Virtual	9-12	14015 62nd Ave NW	Gig Harbor	98332	Pierce County	Peninsula School District	No	No	Yes	No	(253) 530-1700	139	10	13.9	43.2%	98 (70.5%)	1 (0.7%)	21 (15.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (8.6%)	46	229^th of 438 public high schools	47.7%		38.3	274^th of 437 public high schools	37.3%	45			50.0	50.0							56.0	56.0																			$28,726	$4,401	$24,325
Pioneer Elementary School	Public, Magnet	K-5	8402 Skansie Ave	Gig Harbor	98332	Pierce County	Peninsula School District	No	Yes	No	No	(253) 530-3500	481	30	16.3	13.3%	362 (75.3%)	3 (0.6%)	44 (9.1%)	18 (3.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	54 (11.2%)	87.7	133^rd of 1160 public elementary schools	88.5%		74.3	279^th of 1168 public elementary schools	76.1%	146	82.4			82.4	72.8	61.3	79.7					71.3	79.0	65.3	64.9					70.0	95.0	98.8	97.5	97.5	97.5	98.8	100.0	95.0	98.8	98.8	$16,828	$239	$16,589
Swift Water Elementary	Public	K-5	10811 Harbor Hill Drive	Gig Harbor	98332	Pierce County	Peninsula School District	No	No	No	No	(253) 530-4900	519	31	16.6	13.5%	377 (72.6%)	2 (0.4%)	47 (9.1%)	23 (4.4%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	68 (13.1%)	85.7	153^rd of 1160 public elementary schools	86.8%		84.5	168^th of 1168 public elementary schools	85.6%	15	67.8			67.8	70.1	70.9	73.6					71.6	67.1	73.4	64.4					68.2	92.0	93.0	93.0	93.0	93.0	93.0	96.0	93.0	93.0	93.0	$18,308	$259	$18,049

Cities Near Gig Harbor

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Vaughn	3.33 mi	1	124^th
Lakebay	5.02 mi	2	150^th
Port Orchard	5.43 mi	18	106^th
Belfair	6.65 mi	7	257^th
Tacoma	9.91 mi	101	192^nd

See the top WA Washington cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Washington State Department of Health and the Washington Office of Superindentent of Public Instruction.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.