Serving students in grades one through six, Tarrallton Elementary School opened for the first time in 1964. The school was planned for a maximum capacity of approximately six hundred students.

During the first two years, the renovation by the Navy of nearby housing (Hewitt Farms) was taking place and Tarrallton quickly became overcrowded.

During the 1970-1971 school year, over seven hundred pupils were enrolled in grades one through five.  The mobile units, cafeteria, stage, recreation room, library, workroom and other spaces were utilized for instructional groups.  The sixth graders had been transferred to relieve overcrowding and the enrollment in grades three and five were frozen.By September 1966, the first grade students were put into split sessions and two mobile units were placed behind the school early in the year.

With court-ordered integration in 1971-1972, Tarrallton was assigned children in grades one through four.  During the 1973-1975 school terms, Tarrallton served grades three through six. The students came from the Tarrallton-Larrymore , Hewitt Farms, and the Diggs Park-Campostella areas. The enrollment was approximately seven hundred, and four mobile units were added to accommodate the overload.

From 1977-1978 Tarrallton began serving grades four, five, and six. This organizational pattern continued until the 1986-1987 school year when the court ordered bussing was no longer required in Norfolk Public Schools.

During the 1986-1987 school year, Tarrallton Elementary School housed students in grades kindergarten through grade five. Tarrallton Elementary School served students living in the Tarrallton-Wedgewood and Hewitt Farms area.  Students living in a portion of the Oakmont North apartments were bussed in.

On July 16, 1987, the leadership and responsibility for Tarrallton Elementary School was transferred to Mr. Charles W. Clay, Jr.  Mr. Clay led Tarrallton until his retirement in May 2003.  Succeeding were Dr. Diane Gibson, Dr. Daniel White, and curently Mr. Michael Swan.

In 2006, new housing sprang up right next door to the school. “The Village” at Whitehurst Farm consists of 212 military housing units within walking distance of the school grounds.

Tarrallton Elementary School was honored in 2008 as the host elementary school for Queen Azalea (Netherlands) and is the proud recipient of the Virginia Department of Education “VIP in Excellence” award, The Norfolk Public Schools BROAD Award, the 2011 Board of Education  “Competence to Excellence”  Award, and is the first National Elementary Honor Society founding chapter of Norfolk Public Schools.  Tarrallton celebrated its 50^th anniversary in 2014 with continued success in student achievement.  In 2018, Tarrallton was given the honor of becoming a Purple Star school-an award given to schools meeting the  needs of students in the Tarrallton Military Community.  

Currently, Tarrallton serves approximately four hundred-fifty students in Pre-Kindergarten through grade five.  Resource teachers in Art, Music, Physical Education, Media/Library, Communication Skills, Math, and various other specialists help balance the instructional program.