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If you had an hour of school board time for WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, what would you bring up?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
383
Elementary
DISTRICT 436 · STATE 418
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 050900001474
WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
7000 VALLEY DRIVE, LITTLE ROCK, AR 72209 · (501) 447-6800 · Pulaski County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL383 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
17.4:1
22 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.6:1 · STATE 16.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
99%
380 students
DISTRICT 82% · STATE 70%
Community
2
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 58 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 58 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 70 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 66 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 65 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 66 | 17% |
Student demographics
55%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 60% · STATE 61% · 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
ATLAS 2024-25 . % Proficient (Level 3+4)English Language Arts
9.4%
AR avg 34.9% . -0.1pp since 2023
Math
11.5%
AR avg 38.9% . +5.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the ATLAS, Arkansas's statewide test, about 9 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 12 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Arkansas schools, those numbers are about 35 and 39. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores are up about 5 points.
ATLAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 9.4% | 11.5% |
| 2023-24 | 9.5% | 6.5% |
% Proficient (Level 3+4), all students and all tested grades.
Source: ATLAS. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of AR schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
8.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
22.9%
based on AR schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-14.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 8% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 23% typical for Arkansas schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Where WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Arkansas | In Pulaski County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 8.4% | #454 of 461 | #59 of 63 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 11.5% | #442 of 465 | #51 of 63 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 9.4% | #461 of 465 | #60 of 63 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 383 | #297 of 531 | #36 of 72 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.4:1 | #329 of 480 | #45 of 65 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 55.0% | #174 of 480 | #32 of 65 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 99.2% | #100 of 513 | #17 of 69 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -29.5% | #37 of 311 | #10 of 42 |
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
383
-36 (-9%) vs 2020
-5% since 2010-11, when it was 403
Student : Teacher
17.4:1
was 19.1:1
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 | 383 | 22 | 17.4:1 | 99% (380) |
| 2023-24 | 417 | 25 | 16.7:1 | 92% (385) |
| 2022-23 | 416 | 20.5 | 20.3:1 | 93% (387) |
| 2020-21 | 419 | 22 | 19.1:1 | 100% (417) |
| 2017-18 | 543 | 32.4 | 16.8:1 | 21% (112) |
| 2015-16 | 415 | 27 | 15.4:1 | 99% (412) |
| 2010-11 | 403 | 28 | 14.4:1 | 96% (386) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
About WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is a mid-sized elementary school in Arkansas, located in LITTLE ROCK. It offers kindergarten through 5 and has 383 students enrolled.
The LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT system has 40 schools and 22,320 students.
At WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, 51% of students are Hispanic. The remaining students are 43% Black and 4% White. Census figures show Pulaski County is about 8% Hispanic. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL scores 55%.
WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL has 22 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff and a student-to-teacher ratio of 17.4:1. The gap from the 16.0:1 average for elementary schools in Arkansas is 1.5 students per teacher. At WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, 99% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25. The gap from the 71% average for public schools in Pulaski County is 28 points.
WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is 14.5 points below expectations on state tests, given its student poverty level, placing it in the bottom 10% in Arkansas.
For Pulaski County, Census Bureau data show median household income comes to about $62,873, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 38%, and about 13% of people live in poverty. There are 133 public schools in the county, enrolling about 64,124, WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL among them.
DR. MARIAN G. LACEY K-8 ACADEMY is the nearest public school to WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, about 0.8 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Of 8 schools in the immediate area with test results, WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ranks 6th on average proficiency.
WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL falls in the City: Mid-size locale category, used for schools inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Enrollment decreased by 9% across 4 years, from 419 in 2020-21 to 383 in 2024-25. The ratio of students to teachers went from 19.1:1 to 17.4:1 over the same years.
People can post here about open houses, carpools, and field trips and other school topics. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Pulaski County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
399,818
Census ACS
Median income
$62,873
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
38%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
13%
Below federal line
Schools in county
133
64,124 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT
- CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,371 students
- LITTLE ROCK SOUTHWEST HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,045 students
- DR. MARIAN G. LACEY K-8 ACADEMYElementary · 1,252 students
- PARKVIEW MAGNET HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,072 students
- DON ROBERTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 1,035 students
- CHICOT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 897 students
Other schools in LITTLE ROCK
- ARKANSAS VIRTUAL ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,567 students
- CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 2,371 students
- ARKANSAS VIRTUAL ACADEMY ELEMENTARYElementary · 1,387 students
- ARKANSAS VIRTUAL ACADEMY MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 1,315 students
- DR. MARIAN G. LACEY K-8 ACADEMYElementary · 1,252 students
- PARKVIEW MAGNET HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,072 students
Nearby schools
- DR. MARIAN G. LACEY K-8 ACADEMY0.8 mi · 1,252
- CLOVERDALE MIDDLE SCHOOL0.9 mi · 655
- EXALT ACADEMY OF SOUTHWEST LITTLE ROCK1.0 mi · 754
- CHICOT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL1.0 mi · 897
- LITTLE ROCK SOUTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL1.5 mi · 2,045
- MABELVALE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL1.7 mi · 369
Frequently asked questions
About WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOLWhat is the total enrollment at WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL enrolls approximately 383 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL serve?
WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL serves grades KG-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
The student-to-teacher ratio at WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is approximately 17.4:1 (22 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
At WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, the student body is approximately 4% White, 51% Hispanic, 43% Black, 2% Two or more.
Is WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL public or private?
WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is a public K-12 school, overseen by LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.