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What do students at Orion Elementary School actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
423
Elementary
DISTRICT 316 · STATE 277
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ANCHORAGE SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 020018000099
Orion Elementary School
5112 Arctic Warrior Dr, JBER, AK 99506 · (907) 742-0250 · Anchorage Municipality
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY11-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL423 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
19.2:1
22 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.4:1 · STATE 15.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
33%
139 students
DISTRICT 53% · STATE 65%
Community
6
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 | 64 | 15% |
| Kindergarten | 67 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 57 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 58 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 61 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 58 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 58 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (67) is 16% larger than its 5th grade class (58).
Student demographics
62%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 78% · 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
41.8%
AK avg 36.1% . -2.6pp since 2023
Math
46.3%
AK avg 34.6% . +0.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the AK STAR + Alaska Science, Alaska's statewide test, about 42 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 46 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Alaska schools, those numbers are about 36 and 35. Reading and writing scores are down about 3 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
AK STAR + Alaska Science results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 41.8% | 46.3% |
| 2023-24 | 44.4% | 46.3% |
% 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
47.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
42.0%
based on AK schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+5.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 47% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 42% typical for Alaska schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Alaska's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Orion Elementary School
Orion Elementary School's state test result (47.3% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orion Elementary School this school | 423 | 32.9% | 47.3% |
| Ladd Elementary Fairbanks | 383 | 34.2% | 44.5% |
| Aurora Elementary JBER | 359 | 23.1% | 56.6% |
| Ursa Minor Elementary JBER | 294 | 37.8% | 44.1% |
| Anderson Crawford Elementary Eielson AFB | 369 | 21.7% | 64.4% |
| Arctic Light Elementary Fort Wainwright | 361 | 43.8% | 32.6% |
Matched among Alaska elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Orion Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Alaska | In Anchorage Municipality |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 47.3% | #47 of 134 | #23 of 55 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 46.3% | #53 of 150 no change | #24 of 62 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 41.8% | #63 of 150 ▼ 12 | #25 of 62 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 423 | #15 of 169 | #6 of 62 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.2:1 | #119 of 125 | #54 of 56 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 62.4% | #60 of 125 | #41 of 56 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 32.9% | #98 of 142 | #37 of 57 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +56.1% | #2 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. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
423
+237 (+127%) vs 2020
-27% since 1990-91, when it was 577
Student : Teacher
19.2:1
was 14.3:1
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 | 423 | 22.1 | 19.2:1 | 33% (139) |
| 2023-24 | 446 | 25.1 | 17.8:1 | 25% (112) |
| 2022-23 | 456 | 23.5 | 19.4:1 | 25% (112) |
| 2020-21 | 186 | 13 | 14.3:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 271 | 15.2 | 17.8:1 | 34% (91) |
| 2015-16 | 334 | 18 | 18.6:1 | 34% (115) |
| 2010-11 | 457 | 25 | 18.3:1 | 27% (125) |
| 2000-01 | 400 | 20 | 20.0:1 | 35% (139) |
| 1990-91 | 577 | 24 | 24.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Orion Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 56% (271 to 423); teachers up 45% (15.2 to 22.1).
About Orion Elementary School
Orion Elementary School is a high-enrollment elementary school in JBER, Alaska, one of the schools in Anchorage School District. In all, 423 students attend the school in pre-K through 6. The school is 53% larger than the average for elementary schools in Alaska.
Anchorage School District oversees Orion Elementary School and 91 other schools, with 40,587 students in total.
More than half of enrollment at Orion Elementary School is White: 56%. Enrollment also includes 21% Hispanic, 9% Black, 8% multiracial, and 3% Asian. In Anchorage Municipality overall, the White share is about 57%. The diversity index for Orion Elementary School is 62%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
Orion Elementary School has a student-to-teacher ratio of 19.2:1, with 22.1 full-time-equivalent teachers. Compared with the 15.3:1 average for elementary schools in Alaska, this school's ratio is higher. The school has 33% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Across public schools in Anchorage Municipality, the average is 49%.
Orion Elementary School scores 47.3% on state tests, averaged across results. The predicted figure, based on its student poverty level, is 42.0%.
The school is in Anchorage Municipality, where median household income comes to about $103,284, 39% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of people live in poverty. Anchorage Municipality's 99 public schools enroll about 41,241 students and include Orion Elementary School.
Measured in a straight line, Aurora Elementary is about 0.2 miles from Orion Elementary School. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Orion Elementary School is 2nd of 8 on proficiency.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is City: Large: inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
In 2020-21, federal data counted 186 students at Orion Elementary School; in 2024-25, 423. The grades served may not have been the same in both years. The ratio of students to teachers went from 14.3:1 to 19.2:1 over the same years.
You can use this page to share news and ask questions about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Anchorage Municipality at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
288,976
Census ACS
Median income
$103,284
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
99
41,241 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Anchorage School District
- West High SchoolHigh · 1,702 students
- Bettye Davis East Anchorage High SchoolHigh · 1,636 students
- Service High SchoolHigh · 1,518 students
- Bartlett High SchoolCombined · 1,431 students
- Dimond High SchoolHigh · 1,373 students
- South Anchorage High SchoolHigh · 1,239 students
Other schools in JBER
- Aurora ElementaryElementary · 359 students
- Ursa Minor ElementaryElementary · 294 students
- Ursa Major ElementaryElementary
Nearby schools
- Aurora Elementary0.2 mi · 359
- Government Hill Elementary0.4 mi · 424
- William Tyson Elementary1.3 mi · 353
- Denali Montessori Elementary1.6 mi · 361
- Dr. Etheldra Davis Fairview Elementary1.7 mi · 337
- Mountain View Elementary1.8 mi · 230
Frequently asked questions
About Orion Elementary SchoolHow large is Orion Elementary School?
Orion Elementary School enrolls approximately 423 students in grades PK-06.
Is Orion Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Orion Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-06.
How many teachers does Orion Elementary School have?
Orion Elementary School employs 22 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 19.2:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Orion Elementary School?
At Orion Elementary School, the student body is approximately 56% White, 21% Hispanic, 9% Black, 3% Asian, 8% Two or more.
What district is Orion Elementary School in?
Orion Elementary School is part of Anchorage School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.