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Does Donaldson Elem Sch have enough mental health and stress support?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
535
Elementary
DISTRICT 547 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WEST ALLEGHENY SD·NCES 422520000707
Donaldson Elementary School
600 Donaldson Road, Oakdale, PA 15071 · (724) 213-1010 · Allegheny County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY41-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL535 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 99% of Pennsylvania 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.
- ·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
17.6:1
30 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.4:1 · STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
27%
142 students
DISTRICT 31% · 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 | 92 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 77 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 91 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 102 | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 85 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 88 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (92) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (88).
Student demographics
19%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 29% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Based on grade levels within West Allegheny SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
87.8%
PA avg 51.1% . -3.3pp since 2023
Math
93.1%
PA avg 43.0% . +3.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 88 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 93 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Pennsylvania schools, those numbers are about 51 and 43. Reading and writing scores are down about 3 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 4 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 87.8% | 93.1% |
| 2023-24 | 91.1% | 89.5% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of PA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
91.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
66.2%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+25.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 91% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 66% typical for Pennsylvania schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 25 points, placing it in Pennsylvania's top 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 Donaldson Elementary School
Donaldson Elementary School's state test result (91.2% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donaldson Elementary School this school | 535 | 26.5% | 91.2% |
| Ross Elementary School Pittsburgh | 498 | 25.1% | 79.3% |
| Wilson Elementary School Imperial | 586 | 27.0% | 86.5% |
| Buffalo Elementary School Sarver | 564 | 26.4% | 71.9% |
| French Creek Elementary School Pottstown | 581 | 24.6% | 68.0% |
| Shrewsbury Elementary School Shrewsbury | 482 | 26.8% | 56.5% |
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 Donaldson Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Allegheny County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 91.2% | #9 of 1,396 | #7 of 129 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 93.1% | #8 of 1,511 ▲ 5 | #5 of 141 ▲ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 87.8% | #14 of 1,511 ▼ 2 | #8 of 141 ▼ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 535 | #427 of 1,638 | #28 of 156 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.6:1 | #1,489 of 1,528 | #136 of 141 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 19.2% | #1,204 of 1,531 | #131 of 141 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 26.5% | #1,371 of 1,600 | #111 of 152 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +2.1% | #384 of 450 | #53 of 63 |
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
535
-20 (-4%) vs 2020
+18% since 2010-11, when it was 454
Student : Teacher
17.6:1
was 17.3:1
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 | 535 | 30.3 | 17.6:1 | 27% (142) |
| 2023-24 | 548 | 33.3 | 16.4:1 | 26% (142) |
| 2022-23 | 551 | 34.7 | 15.9:1 | 24% (132) |
| 2020-21 | 555 | 32 | 17.3:1 | 17% (94) |
| 2017-18 | 524 | 34.1 | 15.4:1 | 16% (83) |
| 2015-16 | 506 | 32 | 15.8:1 | 19% (94) |
| 2010-11 | 454 | 32 | 14.2:1 | 15% (68) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Donaldson Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 2% (524 to 535); teachers down 11% (34.1 to 30.3).
About Donaldson Elementary School
A mid-sized elementary school in Oakdale, Pennsylvania, Donaldson Elementary School is part of West Allegheny SD. Federal data show 535 students enrolled in kindergarten through 5 in 2024-25. Elementary schools in Pennsylvania average about 443 students, which makes this school 21% bigger than average.
West Allegheny SD oversees Donaldson Elementary School and 4 other schools, with 3,469 students in total.
Of every 100 students at Donaldson Elementary School, about 90 are White. Other students are 4% multiracial and 4% Black. That is higher than the 76% White share among all Allegheny County residents. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 19%.
Teacher count: 30.3 full-time equivalents. Student-to-teacher ratio: 17.6:1. The gap from the 13.1:1 average for elementary schools in Pennsylvania is 4.6 students per teacher. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch, often used to gauge student poverty, is 27%. The gap from the 54% average for public schools in Allegheny County is 27 points.
Donaldson Elementary School earns an A+ on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 99% of Pennsylvania public elementary schools.
Donaldson Elementary School posts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 91.2%. Schools with its free or reduced-price lunch share in Pennsylvania are predicted to post 66.2%, so the school is 25.0 points ahead and in the state's top 10%.
Looking at the county, Allegheny County, median household income comes to about $78,548, about 46% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 7%. The county's public schools total 277, with about 141,392 students.
West Allegheny Middle School is the nearest public school to Donaldson Elementary School, about 2.0 miles away. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Donaldson Elementary School comes in 1st of 7 nearby schools on average proficiency.
NCES lists the school's locale as Rural: Fringe. That means it sits in rural territory close to an urban area.
The school's student count fell 4% between the 2020-21 and 2024-25 school years.
Anyone can start a thread about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies at Donaldson Elementary School. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Allegheny County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,238,177
Census ACS
Median income
$78,548
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
46%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
277
141,392 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in West Allegheny SD
- West Allegheny SHSHigh · 1,031 students
- West Allegheny Middle SchoolMiddle · 796 students
- Wilson Elementary SchoolElementary · 586 students
- McKee Elementary SchoolElementary · 521 students
Other schools in Oakdale
- McKee Elementary SchoolElementary · 521 students
- Parkway West Career and Technology CenterHigh · 14 students
Nearby schools
- West Allegheny Middle School2.0 mi · 796
- McKee Elementary School2.0 mi · 521
- West Allegheny SHS2.2 mi · 1,031
- Wilson Elementary School2.6 mi · 586
- Parkway West Career and Technology Center3.3 mi · 14
- South Fayette Middle School4.2 mi · 859
Frequently asked questions
About Donaldson Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Donaldson Elementary School?
Donaldson Elementary School enrolls approximately 535 students in grades KG-05.
Is Donaldson Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Donaldson Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades KG-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Donaldson Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Donaldson Elementary School is approximately 17.6:1 (30 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Donaldson Elementary School?
At Donaldson Elementary School, the student body is approximately 90% White, 1% Hispanic, 4% Black, 2% Asian, 4% Two or more.
What district is Donaldson Elementary School in?
Donaldson Elementary School is part of West Allegheny SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.