1
What's the vibe like in the hallways at WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL right now?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
622
Elementary
DISTRICT 653 · STATE 604
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DESOTO·NCES 120042000621
WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
304 W IMOGENE ST, ARCADIA, FL 34266 · (863) 494-3155 · DeSoto County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL622 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
16.8:1
37 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.2:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
63%
389 students
DISTRICT 60% · STATE 50%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 81 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 89 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 113 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 118 | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 103 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 118 | 19% |
Student demographics
61%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 61% · STATE 70% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Based on grade levels within DESOTO. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
FAST / B.E.S.T. 2024-25 . % at Level 3 or AboveEnglish Language Arts
44.9%
FL avg 56.7% . +6.6pp since 2023
Math
56.9%
FL avg 58.9% . +0.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the FAST / B.E.S.T., Florida's statewide test, about 45 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 57 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Florida schools, those numbers are about 57 and 59. Reading and writing scores are up about 7 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
FAST / B.E.S.T. results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 44.9% | 56.9% |
| 2023-24 | 38.3% | 56.6% |
% at Level 3 or Above, all students and all tested grades.
Source: FAST / B.E.S.T.. 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
47.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
49.8%
based on FL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 48% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 50% typical for Florida 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 Florida'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 →
Where WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Florida |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 47.7% | #1,446 of 2,136 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 56.9% | #1,247 of 2,149 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 44.9% | #1,550 of 2,149 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 622 | #950 of 2,267 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.8:1 | #1,380 of 2,077 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 61.1% | #817 of 2,108 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -22.6% | #391 of 1,374 |
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.
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
622
-182 (-23%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
16.8:1
was 16.4:1
% White
38%
was 48%
% Hispanic
49%
was 37%
% Black
9%
was 10%
% Asian
1%
was 1%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free or reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 622 | 37 | 16.8:1 | 63% (389) |
| 2023-24 | 684 | 39 | 17.5:1 | 73% (498) |
| 2022-23 | 795 | 45 | 17.7:1 | 73% (583) |
| 2017-18 | 804 | 49 | 16.4:1 | 4% (29) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
About WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
The public elementary school WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is located in ARCADIA, Florida. The grade span is pre-K through 5, and enrollment is 622 students.
WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one of 9 schools in DESOTO, which enrolls 4,171 students in total.
WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL has no majority group; Hispanic students are the largest, at 49%. Other reported shares: 38% White, 9% Black, and 3% multiracial. That compares with about 30% Hispanic among all DeSoto County residents. The school's diversity index is 61%, meaning two students picked at random have a 61% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
The ratio of students to teachers is 16.8:1, with 37 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff. That is close to the 17.5:1 average for elementary schools in Florida. Lunch subsidy eligibility at WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is 63%.
WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL sits between the top and bottom 10% of Florida schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate on state tests of 47.7% and a predicted 49.8%.
Census estimates describe DeSoto County this way: the median household income is $54,417, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 11%, and about 19% of people live in poverty. Besides WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, DeSoto County has 10 other public schools.
Of nearby public schools, DESOTO VIRTUAL FRANCHISE is the closest, at about 0.2 miles. WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. The nearest schools with test data average 41.4%, lower than WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL's 47.7%.
The NCES locale for WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is Town: Distant, which covers schools in a town some distance from an urbanized area.
Enrollment at WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL dropped 23% between 2017-18 and 2024-25, from 804 to 622 students. The largest shift in the student mix was in the Hispanic share, which increased from 37% to 49%.
Conversations here can range across science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
DeSoto County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
35,386
Census ACS
Median income
$54,417
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
11%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
19%
Below federal line
Schools in county
11
4,171 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in DESOTO
- DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,215 students
- DESOTO MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 922 students
- MEMORIAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 861 students
- NOCATEE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 475 students
- DESOTO SECONDARY SCHOOLCombined · 51 students
- DESOTO VIRTUAL FRANCHISECombined · 10 students
Other schools in ARCADIA
- DESOTO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,215 students
- DESOTO MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 922 students
- MEMORIAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 861 students
- DESOTO SECONDARY SCHOOLCombined · 51 students
- DESOTO VIRTUAL FRANCHISECombined · 10 students
- REDUCED SERVICESCombined · 9 students
Nearby schools
- DESOTO VIRTUAL FRANCHISE0.2 mi · 10
- REDUCED SERVICES0.2 mi · 9
- DESOTO SECONDARY SCHOOL0.3 mi · 51
- DESOTO MIDDLE SCHOOL0.8 mi · 922
- DESOTO VIRTUAL ACADEMY0.9 mi · 6
- MEMORIAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL0.9 mi · 861
Frequently asked questions
About WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOLWhat is the total enrollment at WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL enrolls approximately 622 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL serve?
WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
The student-to-teacher ratio at WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is approximately 16.8:1 (37 FTE teachers).
How diverse is WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL reports a student body of 38% White, 49% Hispanic, 9% Black, 1% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
WEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is overseen by DESOTO in DeSoto County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.