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Alumni: what's one memory from John Shaw Elementary that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
507
Elementary
DISTRICT 344 · STATE 277
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MATANUSKA-SUSITNA BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 020051000480
John Shaw Elementary
3750 E Paradise Ln, Wasilla, AK 99654 · (907) 352-0500 · Matanuska-Susitna Borough
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY23-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL507 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
16.4:1
31 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.8:1 · STATE 15.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
41%
209 students
DISTRICT 53% · STATE 65%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 40 | 8% |
| Kindergarten | 79 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 70 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 72 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 96 | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 77 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 73 | 14% |
Student demographics
38%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 51% · STATE 71% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
AK STAR + Alaska Science 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
55.6%
AK avg 36.1% . +4.1pp since 2023
Math
72.3%
AK avg 34.6% . +9.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the AK STAR + Alaska Science, Alaska's statewide test, about 56 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 72 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Alaska schools, those numbers are about 36 and 35. Reading and writing scores are up about 4 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 10 points.
AK STAR + Alaska Science results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 55.6% | 72.3% |
| 2023-24 | 51.5% | 62.5% |
% Advanced + Proficient, all students and all tested grades.
Source: AK STAR + Alaska Science. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of AK schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
64.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
39.1%
based on AK schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+25.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 65% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 39% typical for Alaska schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 26 points, placing it in Alaska's top 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Where John Shaw Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Alaska | In Matanuska-Susitna Borough |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 64.9% | #7 of 134 | #1 of 19 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 72.3% | #7 of 150 | #2 of 23 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 55.6% | #17 of 150 | #2 of 23 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 507 | #5 of 169 | #3 of 27 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.4:1 | #71 of 125 | #14 of 22 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 37.8% | #119 of 125 | #21 of 22 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 41.2% | #75 of 142 | #15 of 21 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +13.4% | #7 of 15 | #2 of 7 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
507
+69 (+16%) vs 2020
+31% since 2010-11, when it was 387
Student : Teacher
16.4:1
was 15.1:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 507 | 31 | 16.4:1 | 41% (209) |
| 2023-24 | 483 | 30.5 | 15.8:1 | 42% (201) |
| 2022-23 | 533 | 29 | 18.4:1 | 40% (213) |
| 2020-21 | 438 | 29 | 15.1:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 447 | 24.9 | 17.9:1 | 41% (183) |
| 2015-16 | 451 | 27 | 16.7:1 | 41% (186) |
| 2010-11 | 387 | 26 | 14.9:1 | 42% (164) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for John Shaw Elementary.
About John Shaw Elementary
John Shaw Elementary is a large elementary school. Its address is in Wasilla, Alaska. Classes run from pre-K through 5, and the school has 507 students. The average for elementary schools in Alaska is about 277 students, so this school is 83% above average.
Enrollment across the 49 schools in Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District totals 19,495 students.
White students are the majority at John Shaw Elementary, with 78% of enrollment. Other groups include 9% multiracial, 7% Native American, and 6% Hispanic. County-wide, about 77% of residents are White. Pick two students at random and there is a 38% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
With 31 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, the ratio at John Shaw Elementary was 16.4:1. This ratio sits 1.0 above the 15.3:1 average for elementary schools in Alaska. A measure often used for student poverty, free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, stands at 41%.
Schools in Alaska with a similar free or reduced-price lunch share are predicted to post an average proficiency rate on state tests near 39.1%. John Shaw Elementary posts 64.9%, 25.8 points above that, which places it in the top 10% statewide on BeatsExpectations.
In the county around the school, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the median household income is $94,031, 24% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of people live in poverty. There are 49 public schools in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, enrolling about 19,495 students in all.
The school nearest to John Shaw Elementary is Teeland Middle School, at a distance of about 1.1 miles. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. John Shaw Elementary is 1st of 6 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
In the federal locale system, John Shaw Elementary is coded Suburb: Small, for schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population under 100,000.
Enrollment climbed 16% from its 2020-21 level of 438. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 15.1:1 to 16.4:1.
The John Shaw Elementary community page is open for posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
112,988
Census ACS
Median income
$94,031
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
24%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
49
19,495 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District
- Mat-Su Central SchoolCombined · 2,780 students
- Colony High SchoolHigh · 1,046 students
- Wasilla High SchoolHigh · 816 students
- Colony Middle SchoolElementary · 771 students
- Mat-Su Career & Tech Ed High SchoolHigh · 705 students
- Teeland Middle SchoolElementary · 643 students
Other schools in Wasilla
- Mat-Su Central SchoolCombined · 2,780 students
- Wasilla High SchoolHigh · 816 students
- Mat-Su Career & Tech Ed High SchoolHigh · 705 students
- Teeland Middle SchoolElementary · 643 students
- Twindly Bridge Charter SchoolCombined · 601 students
- Wasilla Middle SchoolMiddle · 584 students
Nearby schools
- Teeland Middle School1.1 mi · 643
- Mat-Su Career & Tech Ed High School1.3 mi · 705
- Larson Elementary1.5 mi · 319
- Fronteras Charter School1.5 mi · 336
- Mat-Su Day School1.5 mi · 70
- Finger Lake Elementary2.2 mi · 445
Frequently asked questions
About John Shaw ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at John Shaw Elementary?
John Shaw Elementary enrolls approximately 507 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does John Shaw Elementary serve?
John Shaw Elementary serves grades PK-05.
How many teachers does John Shaw Elementary have?
John Shaw Elementary employs 31 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.4:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at John Shaw Elementary?
At John Shaw Elementary, the student body is approximately 78% White, 6% Hispanic, 0% Black, 0% Asian, 9% Two or more.
What district is John Shaw Elementary in?
John Shaw Elementary is part of Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.