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What's the biggest difference between Northwestern Elementary School and what you expected?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
632
Elementary
DISTRICT 414 · STATE 404
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NORTHWESTERN LOCAL·NCES 391003304665
Northwestern Elementary School
7334 N Elyria Rd, West Salem, OH 44287 · (419) 846-3519 · Wayne County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL632 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 82% of Ohio public elementary schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- C-Three-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Ohio public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
16.9:1
37 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.3:1 · STATE 17.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
44%
276 students
DISTRICT 47% · STATE 43%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 40 | 6% |
| Kindergarten | 72 | 11% |
| Grade 1 | 116 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 83 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 108 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 106 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 107 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (72) is 33% smaller than its 5th grade class (107).
Student demographics
11%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 11% · STATE 54% · 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 Northwestern Local. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
Ohio's State Tests 2024-25 . % Proficient or AboveEnglish Language Arts
71.9%
OH avg 59.8% . -9.2pp since 2021
Math
87.0%
OH avg 56.1% . +5.1pp since 2021
What this means: On the Ohio's State Tests, Ohio's statewide test, about 72 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 87 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Ohio schools, those numbers are about 60 and 56. Reading and writing scores are down about 9 points since 2021, while math scores are up about 5 points.
Ohio's State Tests results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 71.9% | 87.0% |
| 2023-24 | 76.9% | 84.2% |
| 2022-23 | 76.2% | 86.9% |
| 2021-22 | 81.1% | 81.9% |
% Proficient or Above, all students and all tested grades.
Source: Ohio's State Tests. 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
80.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
72.3%
based on OH schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 81% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 72% typical for Ohio 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 Ohio'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 Northwestern Elementary School
Northwestern Elementary School's state test result (80.9% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwestern Elementary School this school | 632 | 43.7% | 80.9% |
| North Union Elementary School Richwood | 654 | 44.3% | 70.5% |
| James A Garfield Elementary School Garrettsville | 655 | 42.9% | 70.7% |
| Benjamin Logan Elementary School Bellefontaine | 587 | 42.4% | 71.8% |
| Graham Elementary School Saint Paris | 735 | 44.2% | 68.3% |
| Margaretta Elementary School Castalia | 536 | 42.7% | 77.8% |
Matched among Ohio 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 Northwestern Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Ohio | In Wayne County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 80.9% | #226 of 673 | #3 of 10 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 87.0% | #163 of 1,569 ▲ 61 | #2 of 16 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 71.9% | #535 of 1,569 ▼ 86 | #8 of 16 ▼ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -2.1pp | #320 of 1,514 | #3 of 14 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 632 | #228 of 1,808 | #1 of 19 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.9:1 | #628 of 1,582 | #7 of 15 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 10.6% | #1,443 of 1,590 | #15 of 15 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 43.7% | #362 of 767 | #8 of 13 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +1.4% | #523 of 561 | N/A |
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
632
+21 (+3%) vs 2020
+2% since 2010-11, when it was 622
Student : Teacher
16.9:1
was 17.5:1
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 | 632 | 37.4 | 16.9:1 | 44% (276) |
| 2023-24 | 636 | 36.4 | 17.5:1 | 38% (244) |
| 2022-23 | 625 | 35.9 | 17.4:1 | 32% (197) |
| 2020-21 | 611 | 35 | 17.5:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 623 | 40.9 | 15.2:1 | 45% (280) |
| 2015-16 | 598 | 41 | 14.6:1 | 44% (265) |
| 2010-11 | 622 | 39 | 15.9:1 | 48% (300) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Northwestern Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 1% (623 to 632); teachers down 9% (40.9 to 37.4).
About Northwestern Elementary School
A large elementary school in West Salem, Ohio, Northwestern Elementary School is part of Northwestern Local. The student body numbers 632 students, from pre-K through 5. An average school in this group (elementary schools in Ohio) has about 404 students.
Northwestern Local counts 3 schools and 1,243 students, including Northwestern Elementary School.
Northwestern Elementary School enrolls a student body that is 94% White. Beyond that, enrollment is 3% multiracial and 3% Hispanic. The White share in Wayne County as a whole is similar, at about 93%. By the diversity index, Northwestern Elementary School comes in at 11%.
Northwestern Elementary School counts 37.4 full-time-equivalent teachers, about 16.9 students for each one. The 17.9:1 average for elementary schools in Ohio is higher than this school's figure. About 44% of students at the school meet free or reduced-price lunch income limits.
Measured against Ohio public elementary schools, Northwestern Elementary School receives an A-. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Northwestern Elementary School scores 80.9% on state tests, averaged across results. The predicted figure, based on its student poverty level, is 72.3%.
Wayne County census figures show that median household income is about $73,574, about 25% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 6%. A total of 45 public schools operate in Wayne County, serving about 14,479 students.
Northwestern High School is the public school closest to Northwestern Elementary School, about 0.2 miles away. Inside a five-mile radius, there are 2 other public schools. The average proficiency across nearby scored schools is 70.0%; Northwestern Elementary School's is 80.9%, ranking 2nd of 9.
NCES describes the area around Northwestern Elementary School as Rural: Distant, meaning in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, the student count climbed from 611 to 632.
Threads on this page can be about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Wayne County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
116,588
Census ACS
Median income
$73,574
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
25%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
45
14,479 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Northwestern Local
- Northwestern High SchoolHigh · 327 students
- Northwestern Middle SchoolMiddle · 284 students
Other schools in West Salem
- Northwestern High SchoolHigh · 327 students
- Northwestern Middle SchoolMiddle · 284 students
Other Northwestern Elementary schools
9 other US public schools in 9 states are named Northwestern Elementary. Northwestern Elementary School is the 3rd largest of the 10.
- Northwestern Elementary SchoolSpringfield, OH · 950 students
- Northwestern Elementary SchoolKokomo, IN · 665 students
- Northwestern ElementaryPoplar, WI · 515 students
- Northwestern Elementary SchoolAlbion, PA · 350 students
- Northwestern ElementaryMardela Springs, MD · 340 students
Nearby schools
- Northwestern High School0.2 mi · 327
- Northwestern Middle School0.2 mi · 284
- Wooster High School9.3 mi · 1,182
- Hillsdale 7-129.4 mi · 360
- Hillsdale PK-69.4 mi · 547
- Kean Elementary School9.4 mi · 313
Frequently asked questions
About Northwestern Elementary SchoolHow large is Northwestern Elementary School?
Northwestern Elementary School enrolls approximately 632 students in grades PK-05.
Is Northwestern Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Northwestern Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many teachers does Northwestern Elementary School have?
Northwestern Elementary School employs 37 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.9:1.
What is the student diversity at Northwestern Elementary School?
Student demographics at Northwestern Elementary School are roughly 94% White, 3% Hispanic, 0% Black, 3% Two or more.
What district is Northwestern Elementary School in?
Northwestern Elementary School is part of Northwestern Local.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.