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St Charles Borromeo Catholic School

Private school · Tacoma, Pierce County · grades PK, K-8 · Roman Catholic

Snapshot

K-12 enrollment
468
SBE-reported, 2024-25
Student-teacher ratio
15.2:1
NCES PSS, 2021-22
Teachers (FTE)
28
NCES PSS, 2021-22

Identity and approval

Campus
St Charles Borromeo Catholic School, 7112 S 12th St, Tacoma 98465
Host public district
Tacoma School District
Grades
PK, K-8
Religious affiliation
Roman Catholic
WA SBE approval
2026-27 (state-approved private school)
Profit status
Nonprofit

Enrollment

K12345678
494048523959655759

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
9%
Black
1%
Hispanic
9%
White
75%

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

St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School

Catholic parish school in Tacoma's West End · toddler/preschool plus K-8 · 468 K-8 students and 144 early learners (WA SBE, 2024-25) · Archdiocese of Seattle, ministry of St. Charles Borromeo Parish

The verdict

The sticker price is the hook and the fine print is the story. At $8,580 for an in-parish K-8 student in 2026-27, or $11,930 out-of-parish, St. Charles Borromeo costs a fraction of Puget Sound's secular independents, and demand shows it. K-8 enrollment climbed from 426 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2021-22) to 468 (WA State Board of Education, 2024-25), and the school warned in December 2025 that several grades were already at capacity for the coming year. But the parish keeps tuition low by billing families in other currencies: $3,000 a year routed through the school's Scrip gift-card program (or a $500 buyout), 30 volunteer hours, and a covenant of parish participation to hold the in-parish rate. The distinctive pattern in the enrollment data is who arrives. Grade cohorts jump from 39 in 4th grade to 59 and 65 in 5th and 6th (WA State Board of Education, 2024-25), because Tacoma families use this school specifically to skip public middle school, and the departmentalized 6-8 program is built to receive them. It works for families ready to live inside a rules-dense, all-in Catholic community pointed at Bellarmine Prep. It works badly for anyone needing behavioral flexibility or significant learning-difference support.

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

That is the free excerpt. The full dossier covers what the school's own marketing won't: admissions mechanics and real selectivity, all-in cost and aid behavior, matriculation depth, culture and fit signals, institutional health, every claim cited and dated. Unlock it for $9, or get a $29 Research Pass with 3 dossiers included.

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

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