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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at RALPH DOWNS ES?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
395
Elementary
DISTRICT 523 · STATE 366
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PUTNAM CITY·NCES 402529029715
Ralph Downs Elementary School
7501 West Hefner Road, Oklahoma City, OK 73162 · (405) 721-4431 · Oklahoma County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL395 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 37% of Oklahoma public elementary schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Oklahoma public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
13.8:1
29 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.7:1 · STATE 15.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
72%
283 students
DISTRICT 81% · STATE 68%
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 | 42 | 11% |
| Kindergarten | 45 | 11% |
| Grade 1 | 59 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 62 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 56 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 71 | 18% |
| Grade 5 | 60 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (45) is 25% smaller than its 5th grade class (60).
Student demographics
77%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 73% · STATE 73% · 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
OSTP / CCRA 2024-25 . % Proficient + AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
30.0%
OK avg 30.6%
Math
35.3%
OK avg 32.6%
What this means: On the OSTP / CCRA, Oklahoma's statewide test, about 30 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 35 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Oklahoma schools, those numbers are about 31 and 33.
Source: OSTP / CCRA. 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
32.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
31.1%
based on OK schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+1.7pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 33% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 31% typical for Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma'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 Ralph Downs Elementary School
Ralph Downs Elementary School's state test result (32.8% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ralph Downs Elementary School this school | 395 | 71.6% | 32.8% |
| Harvest Hills Elementary School Oklahoma City | 426 | 73.7% | 35.9% |
| Patrick Henry Elementary School Tulsa | 442 | 75.8% | N/A |
| Dove Science Academy Elementary School Warr Acres | 519 | 69.6% | 51.5% |
| Will Rogers Elementary School Oklahoma City | 362 | 71.8% | 30.5% |
| Ida Freeman Elementary School Edmond | 429 | 70.6% | N/A |
Matched among Oklahoma 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 Ralph Downs Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Oklahoma | In Oklahoma County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 32.8% | #364 of 555 | #44 of 64 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 35.3% | #317 of 651 | #44 of 77 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 30.0% | #355 of 523 | #44 of 63 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 395 | #350 of 941 | #84 of 123 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.8:1 | #102 of 708 | #8 of 116 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 77.1% | #25 of 708 | #5 of 116 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 71.6% | #443 of 876 | #66 of 121 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.1% | #410 of 548 | #59 of 78 |
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
395
+35 (+10%) vs 2020
+9% since 1990-91, when it was 364
Student : Teacher
13.8:1
was 13.3:1
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 | 395 | 28.7 | 13.8:1 | 72% (283) |
| 2023-24 | 409 | 28.4 | 14.4:1 | 71% (292) |
| 2022-23 | 416 | 28.9 | 14.4:1 | 73% (303) |
| 2020-21 | 360 | 27 | 13.3:1 | 61% (220) |
| 2017-18 | 425 | 27.5 | 15.4:1 | 57% (243) |
| 2015-16 | 471 | 30 | 15.7:1 | 59% (278) |
| 2010-11 | 517 | 30 | 17.2:1 | 52% (271) |
| 2000-01 | 509 | 28 | 18.2:1 | 22% (113) |
| 1990-91 | 364 | 20 | 18.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Ralph Downs Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (425 to 395); teachers up 4% (27.5 to 28.7).
About Ralph Downs Elementary School
Ralph Downs Elementary School serves students in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as a mid-sized elementary school. Enrollment totals 395 students across pre-K through 5.
PUTNAM CITY is the local district for Ralph Downs Elementary School. It runs 26 schools with 18,836 students.
The largest group at Ralph Downs Elementary School is White students, at 31%. The remaining students are 28% Black, 17% Hispanic, 15% multiracial, and 4% Asian. Census figures show Oklahoma County is about 57% White. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Ralph Downs Elementary School scores 77%.
The school had 28.7 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 13.8:1. The gap from the 15.6:1 average for elementary schools in Oklahoma is 1.9 students per teacher. The school reported 72% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25.
Among Oklahoma public elementary schools, Ralph Downs Elementary School outscored 37%, which works out to a C+ on the allk12 Grade.
Ralph Downs Elementary School is 1.7 points above its predicted average proficiency rate across its state test results (32.8% versus 31.1%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in Oklahoma.
In the wider Oklahoma County area, median household income comes to about $66,679, roughly 36% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 12%. Oklahoma County counts 225 public schools with about 161,569 students.
Putnam City North High School, about 0.8 miles away, is the closest public school. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. Ralph Downs Elementary School places 4th of 7 on proficiency among the closest schools that report scores.
Ralph Downs Elementary School is coded as City: Large in federal locale data.
By 2024-25, enrollment had risen to 395, from 360 in 2020-21.
This page collects posts and questions about Ralph Downs Elementary School, such as open houses, carpools, and field trips. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Oklahoma County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
806,199
Census ACS
Median income
$66,679
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
12%
Below federal line
Schools in county
225
161,569 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in PUTNAM CITY
- Putnam City West High SchoolHigh · 2,032 students
- Putnam City High SchoolHigh · 1,995 students
- Putnam City North High SchoolHigh · 1,567 students
- James L. Capps Middle SchoolMiddle · 938 students
- Hefner Middle SchoolMiddle · 869 students
- Mayfield Middle SchoolMiddle · 838 students
Other schools in Oklahoma City
- Epic Charter Virtual High SchoolHigh · 14,517 students
- Epic Charter Virtual Elementary SchoolElementary · 14,019 students
- Westmoore High SchoolHigh · 2,607 students
- Putnam City West High SchoolHigh · 2,032 students
- Putnam City High SchoolHigh · 1,995 students
- Northwest Classen High SchoolHigh · 1,914 students
Nearby schools
- Putnam City North High School0.8 mi · 1,567
- Harvest Hills Elementary School0.9 mi · 426
- Dennis Elementary School1.0 mi · 487
- Will Rogers Elementary School1.3 mi · 362
- Wiley Post Elementary School1.3 mi · 678
- Northridge Elementary School2.0 mi · 700
Frequently asked questions
About Ralph Downs Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Ralph Downs Elementary School?
Ralph Downs Elementary School enrolls approximately 395 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Ralph Downs Elementary School serve?
Ralph Downs Elementary School serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Ralph Downs Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Ralph Downs Elementary School is approximately 13.8:1 (29 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Ralph Downs Elementary School?
Student demographics at Ralph Downs Elementary School are roughly 31% White, 17% Hispanic, 28% Black, 4% Asian, 15% Two or more.
What district is Ralph Downs Elementary School in?
Ralph Downs Elementary School is part of PUTNAM CITY.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.