1
What's the vibe like in the hallways at Dodson El Sch right now?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
522
Elementary
DISTRICT 626 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WILKES-BARRE AREA SD·NCES 422630002995
Dodson Elementary School
13 Hillard St, Wilkes Barre, PA 18702 · (570) 235-6894 · Luzerne County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL522 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 16% of Pennsylvania public elementary schools
- C-Test 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 Pennsylvania public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
20.1:1
26 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.5:1 · STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
93%
483 students
DISTRICT 97% · STATE 75%
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 | 88 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 80 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 104 | 20% |
| Grade 3 | 90 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 80 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 80 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (88) is 10% larger than its 5th grade class (80).
Student demographics
50%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 63% · STATE 59% · 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
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
27.4%
PA avg 51.1% . +2.0pp since 2023
Math
21.4%
PA avg 43.0% . +1.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 27 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 21 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Pennsylvania schools, those numbers are about 51 and 43. Reading and writing scores are up about 2 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 1 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 27.4% | 21.4% |
| 2023-24 | 25.4% | 20.2% |
% Proficient or Advanced, all students and all tested grades.
Source: PSSA + Keystone. 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
29.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
37.9%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-8.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 29% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 38% typical for Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania'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 Dodson Elementary School
Dodson Elementary School's state test result (29.1% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dodson Elementary School this school | 522 | 92.5% | 29.1% |
| Ritter Elementary School Allentown | 463 | 92.0% | 25.4% |
| Muhlenberg Elementary School Allentown | 606 | 97.5% | 31.2% |
| Sheridan Elementary School Allentown | 591 | 97.1% | 19.2% |
| Roosevelt Elementary School Allentown | 631 | 98.4% | 19.9% |
| Feltonville Intermediate School Philadelphia | 517 | 96.9% | 15.9% |
Matched among Pennsylvania 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 Dodson Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Luzerne County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 29.1% | #1,187 of 1,396 | #22 of 27 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 21.4% | #1,267 of 1,511 ▼ 7 | #23 of 27 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 27.4% | #1,248 of 1,511 ▲ 88 | #22 of 27 ▲ 5 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 522 | #476 of 1,638 | #20 of 38 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 20.1:1 | #1,518 of 1,528 | #32 of 33 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 49.9% | #541 of 1,531 | #17 of 33 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 92.5% | #620 of 1,600 | #19 of 37 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.3% | #727 of 1,045 | #5 of 13 |
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
522
0 (0%) vs 2020
-4% since 1990-91, when it was 542
Student : Teacher
20.1:1
was 15.8:1
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 | 522 | 25.9 | 20.1:1 | 93% (483) |
| 2023-24 | 483 | 25.1 | 19.3:1 | 100% (483) |
| 2022-23 | 486 | 25.9 | 18.8:1 | 100% (486) |
| 2020-21 | 522 | 33 | 15.8:1 | 99% (519) |
| 2017-18 | 569 | 34.4 | 16.6:1 | 100% (568) |
| 2015-16 | 537 | 34 | 15.8:1 | 100% (537) |
| 2010-11 | 465 | 37 | 12.6:1 | 86% (399) |
| 2000-01 | 426 | 28 | 15.2:1 | 47% (200) |
| 1990-91 | 542 | 26 | 20.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Dodson Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (569 to 522); teachers down 25% (34.4 to 25.9).
About Dodson Elementary School
Students in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, attend Dodson Elementary School, a medium-sized elementary school. Students in kindergarten through 5 attend, and enrollment is 522 students.
District-wide, Wilkes-Barre Area SD has 10 schools and 8,277 students.
Hispanic students are the majority at Dodson Elementary School, with 68% of enrollment. After that, the student body is 15% Black, 8% White, and 8% multiracial. Among all residents of Luzerne County, the Hispanic share is about 17%. The school's diversity index is 50%, meaning two students picked at random have a 50% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
The teaching staff at Dodson Elementary School is 25.9 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the ratio is 20.1:1. The school has more students per teacher than the 13.1:1 average for elementary schools in Pennsylvania. About 93% of students, or 483, qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. On average, public schools in Luzerne County report 85%.
allk12 grades Dodson Elementary School a C-. The grade compares the school only with Pennsylvania public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
Given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, Dodson Elementary School would be expected to post about 37.9%. Its actual average proficiency rate on state tests is 29.1%.
County data help place the school in context: in Luzerne County, the median household income is $63,691, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 25% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 11%. Luzerne County is home to 65 public schools and about 45,209 public school students.
Daniel J Flood Elementary School is the closest public school, about 0.5 miles away in a straight line. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. The nearest schools with test data average 39.7%, higher than Dodson Elementary School's 29.1%.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as City: Small, meaning it is inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, enrollment moved from 522 to 522, a small change. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio rose to 20.1:1, from 15.8:1.
Posts about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs are welcome on this page. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Luzerne County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
327,675
Census ACS
Median income
$63,691
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
25%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
65
45,209 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Wilkes-Barre Area SD
- Wilkes-Barre Area High SchoolHigh · 2,569 students
- G A R Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,101 students
- Dr David W Kistler Elementary SchoolElementary · 961 students
- Heights/Murray Elementary SchoolElementary · 838 students
- Solomon/Plains Middle SchoolMiddle · 758 students
- Solomon/Plains Elementary SchoolElementary · 718 students
Other schools in Wilkes Barre
- Dr David W Kistler Elementary SchoolElementary · 961 students
- Heights/Murray Elementary SchoolElementary · 838 students
- Daniel J Flood Elementary SchoolElementary · 616 students
Other Dodson Elementary schools
2 other US public schools in 3 states are named Dodson Elementary. Dodson Elementary School is the largest of the 3.
- Dodson Elementary SchoolCANTON, MI · 470 students
- Dodson ElementaryHermitage, TN · 464 students
Nearby schools
- Daniel J Flood Elementary School0.5 mi · 616
- Heights/Murray Elementary School0.7 mi · 838
- G A R Middle School1.2 mi · 1,101
- Third Avenue Elementary School1.4 mi · 97
- Wilkes-Barre Area High School1.4 mi · 2,569
- Wilkes-Barre Area SD STEM Academy1.4 mi · 93
Frequently asked questions
About Dodson Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Dodson Elementary School?
Dodson Elementary School enrolls approximately 522 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Dodson Elementary School serve?
Dodson Elementary School serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many teachers does Dodson Elementary School have?
Dodson Elementary School employs 26 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 20.1:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Dodson Elementary School?
At Dodson Elementary School, the student body is approximately 8% White, 68% Hispanic, 15% Black, 0% Asian, 8% Two or more.
Who oversees Dodson Elementary School?
Dodson Elementary School is overseen by Wilkes-Barre Area SD in Luzerne County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.