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What do students at DESERT HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
474
Elementary
DISTRICT 398 · STATE 480
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WASHOE COUNTY·NCES 320048000426
Desert Heights Elementary
13948 MOUNT BISMARK STREET, RENO, NV 89506 · (775) 677-5444 · Washoe County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL474 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
18.1:1
26 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.1:1 · STATE 18.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
100%
474 students
DISTRICT 66% · STATE 85%
Community
1
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 | 67 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 78 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 77 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 85 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 78 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 89 | 19% |
This year's kindergarten class (67) is 25% smaller than its 5th grade class (89).
Student demographics
65%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 64% · 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
Test scores
Nevada SBAC 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
25.6%
NV avg 45.8% . -2.8pp since 2023
Math
19.8%
NV avg 35.6% . -0.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the Nevada SBAC, Nevada's statewide test, about 26 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 20 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Nevada schools, those numbers are about 46 and 36. Reading and writing scores are down about 3 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
Nevada SBAC results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 25.6% | 19.8% |
| 2023-24 | 28.4% | 20.5% |
% Proficient, all students and all tested grades.
Source: Nevada SBAC. 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
22.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
32.5%
based on NV schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-10.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 22% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 33% typical for Nevada 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 Nevada'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 Desert Heights Elementary
Desert Heights Elementary's state test result (22.4% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desert Heights Elementary this school | 474 | 100.0% | 22.4% |
| Katherine Dunn Elementary SPARKS | 462 | 99.8% | 33.9% |
| Donner Springs Elementary RENO | 414 | 100.0% | 24.0% |
| Alice Smith Elementary RENO | 512 | 100.0% | 22.9% |
| Mark Twain Elementary Carson City | 497 | 100.0% | 26.6% |
| Bowler Joseph L Elementary School Bunkerville | 465 | 100.0% | 32.0% |
Matched among Nevada 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 Desert Heights Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Nevada | In Washoe County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 22.4% | #313 of 367 | #52 of 64 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 19.8% | #348 of 388 ▼ 35 | #67 of 75 ▼ 10 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 25.6% | #341 of 390 ▼ 48 | #66 of 76 ▼ 9 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 474 | #236 of 442 | #26 of 77 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.1:1 | #269 of 379 | #45 of 73 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.7% | #152 of 381 | #12 of 74 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 100% | #306 of 386 | #31 of 67 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -3.5% | #290 of 304 | #61 of 64 |
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
474
+2 (+0%) vs 2020
-1% since 2000-01, when it was 480
Student : Teacher
18.1:1
was 15.7:1
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 | 474 | 26.2 | 18.1:1 | 100% (474) |
| 2023-24 | 507 | 26 | 19.5:1 | 100% (507) |
| 2022-23 | 463 | 24 | 19.3:1 | 100% (463) |
| 2020-21 | 472 | 30 | 15.7:1 | 100% (472) |
| 2017-18 | 491 | 32 | 15.3:1 | 100% (491) |
| 2015-16 | 486 | 24 | 20.3:1 | 99% (482) |
| 2010-11 | 556 | 36 | 15.4:1 | 74% (413) |
| 2000-01 | 480 | 28 | 17.1:1 | 73% (348) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Desert Heights Elementary.
About Desert Heights Elementary
Desert Heights Elementary is listed by the National Center for Education Statistics as an elementary school in RENO, Nevada. The school teaches kindergarten through 5 and enrolls 474 students.
Washoe County includes 114 schools. Together they enroll 63,959 students.
More than half of the students at Desert Heights Elementary are Hispanic (52%). Other reported shares: 27% White, 8% Pacific Islander, 6% multiracial, and 3% Black. That compares with about 26% Hispanic among all Washoe County residents. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 65%.
With 26.2 full-time-equivalent teachers, the student-to-teacher ratio is about 18.1:1. That is in line with the 18.1:1 average for elementary schools in Nevada. Roughly 100% of students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. On average, public schools in Washoe County report 56%.
BeatsExpectations compares each school's average proficiency rate across its state test results with a prediction based on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. For Desert Heights Elementary, the prediction is 32.5% and the result is 22.4%.
Five-year Census Bureau estimates for Washoe County show that median household income comes to about $88,096, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 34% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 7%. The county's public schools total 127, with about 68,279 students.
Of the public schools around it, Desert Heights Elementary is closest to Sierra Nevada Academy Charter, about 0.2 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. Desert Heights Elementary is 3rd of 7 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
In the federal locale system, Desert Heights Elementary is coded City: Large, for schools inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment held near 474, starting from 472. Its ratio of students to teachers was 15.7:1 in 2020-21, and 18.1:1 in 2024-25.
Desert Heights Elementary has a community page on allk12 for topics such as special education services, counseling, and support programs. You can also rate the school on this page.
Washoe County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
497,200
Census ACS
Median income
$88,096
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
127
68,279 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Washoe County
- North Valleys High SchoolHigh · 2,307 students
- Spanish Springs High SchoolHigh · 2,131 students
- Edward C. Reed High SchoolHigh · 2,092 students
- Procter R. Hug High SchoolHigh · 2,008 students
- Reno High SchoolHigh · 1,741 students
- Damonte Ranch High SchoolHigh · 1,738 students
Other schools in RENO
- North Valleys High SchoolHigh · 2,307 students
- Reno High SchoolHigh · 1,741 students
- Damonte Ranch High SchoolHigh · 1,738 students
- Robert McQueen High SchoolHigh · 1,727 students
- Galena High SchoolHigh · 1,345 students
- Earl Wooster High SchoolHigh · 1,338 students
Nearby schools
- Sierra Nevada Academy Charter0.2 mi · 251
- Silver Lake Elementary1.8 mi · 491
- Stead Elementary2.0 mi · 647
- William Obrien Middle School2.1 mi · 1,067
- Lemmon Valley Elementary2.4 mi · 635
- Alice Smith Elementary4.0 mi · 512
Frequently asked questions
About Desert Heights ElementaryHow large is Desert Heights Elementary?
Desert Heights Elementary enrolls approximately 474 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Desert Heights Elementary serve?
Desert Heights Elementary serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Desert Heights Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Desert Heights Elementary is approximately 18.1:1 (26 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Desert Heights Elementary?
At Desert Heights Elementary, the student body is approximately 27% White, 52% Hispanic, 3% Black, 3% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Who oversees Desert Heights Elementary?
Desert Heights Elementary is overseen by Washoe County in Washoe County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.