SchoolsPrivate schools › Pierce County

Lighthouse Christian School

Private school · Gig Harbor, Pierce County · grades K-8 · Christian (no specific denomination)

Snapshot

K-12 enrollment
507
SBE-reported, 2024-25
Student-teacher ratio
13.7:1
NCES PSS, 2021-22
Teachers (FTE)
38
NCES PSS, 2021-22

Identity and approval

Campus
Lighthouse Christian School, 3008 36th St NW, Gig Harbor 98335
Host public district
Peninsula School District
Grades
K-8
Religious affiliation
Christian (no specific denomination)
WA SBE approval
2026-27 (state-approved private school)
Profit status
Nonprofit

Enrollment

K12345678
525453575954596059

Enrollment by grade, 2024-25 school year, as reported to the WA State Board of Education.

Academics

Washington private schools are not required to publish state assessment results. No public score data exists for this school.

Student demographics

Asian
2%
Black
1%
Hispanic
9%
White
30%

NCES Private School Universe Survey, 2021-22 (the most recent federal collection). Private-school demographics are reported biennially and lag public-school data.

Research dossier

Lighthouse Christian School

Independent evangelical Christian school in Gig Harbor · K–8 · 507 students (WA SBE, 2024-25) · non-denominational, dually accredited by ACSI and Cognia, in Peninsula School District territory.

The verdict

On the Gig Harbor peninsula, Lighthouse is less one option among several than the default private school. The local secular alternatives are small (Gig Harbor Academy, Harbor Montessori), and no comparably sized religious K-8 operates on this side of the Narrows. Three facts should anchor a decision. One: the gate is theological before it is academic. Enrolling requires parents to sign a Statement of Faith affirming biblical inerrancy and traditional definitions of marriage and gender, and families whose lives publicly contradict it face denial or counseling-out. Two: the price just reset hard. Tuition for 2026-27 is $13,815 for elementary and $14,655 for middle school, up from $11,400 and $11,900 the prior year, as the board executes its stated plan to make tuition cover full operating cost. The counterweight is a donor-funded Variable Tuition program offering grants of 5% to 55%. Three: the institution behind the bill is financially fortress-grade, with $13.6 million in assets against $2.1 million in liabilities on the latest Form 990. Its board is also openly studying a high school, which would rewrite the 8th-grade exit math for every family here. Mission-aligned evangelical families get a stable, well-capitalized school that keeps kids through 8th grade; secular families shopping for small classes are the customer this school is structured to turn away.

Researched 2026-07-04. Citations and claim ledger included in the full dossier.

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The real comparison is against your public options.

Tuition here runs five figures a year, the question is what it buys over the public schools your address already gives you. A $29 Research Pass unlocks score trends, peer percentiles, competition evidence, gifted-pathway detail, and PTA capacity on every public school in the region, plus 3 full research dossiers for the schools on your shortlist.

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Sources

Weighing private against public?

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