Franklin Pierce High School

Franklin Pierce High School is a public high school serving about 975 students in grades 9-12 within the Franklin Pierce School District in Tacoma, an area where many families face economic challenges.

The school presents a mixed picture: it successfully graduates students at a rate higher than the state average, but those graduates often leave with lower-than-average academic skills, especially in math where proficiency is less than half the state average. This school stands out from others in the region, like the more stable Spanaway Lake High School, because its statewide ranking has swung dramatically up and down over the years, suggesting some internal instability. Compared to the higher-performing Industrial Design Engineering and Arts school nearby, Franklin Pierce struggles more with core academic proficiency, though it spends its resources efficiently to achieve its solid graduation rates.

Franklin Pierce shows notable strengths in supporting specific groups of students, such as English Language Learners, but has significant room for improvement in helping other student groups reach the same level of success. The school's performance is also influenced by the broader context of its district, which ranks in the state's bottom 20%. For improvement, the school likely needs to focus on stabilizing its programs and dramatically boosting math instruction, while learning from its own successful support strategies.