Enrollment
405
Elementary
DISTRICT 498 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HARRISBURG CITY SD·NCES 421158007488
Downey School
1313 Monroe St, Harrisburg, PA 17103 · (717) 703-1240 · Dauphin County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL405 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 0% of Pennsylvania public elementary schools
- FTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats 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
13.3:1
31 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.5:1 · STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
101%
408 students
DISTRICT 104% · STATE 75%
Community
0
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 | 31 | 8% |
| Kindergarten | 56 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 61 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 63 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 68 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 60 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 66 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (56) is 15% smaller than its 5th grade class (66).
Student demographics
59%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 59% · 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
2.7%
PA avg 51.1% . -3.7pp since 2023
Math
3.3%
PA avg 43.0% . +1.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 3 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 3 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 4 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 1 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 2.7% | 3.3% |
| 2023-24 | 6.4% | 1.9% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of PA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
4.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
34.4%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-29.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 5% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 34% typical for Pennsylvania schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Where Downey School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Dauphin County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 4.9% | #1,395 of 1,396 | #31 of 31 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 3.3% | #1,505 of 1,511 ▼ 3 | #36 of 36 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 2.7% | #1,511 of 1,511 ▼ 2 | #36 of 36 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 405 | #861 of 1,638 | #19 of 40 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.3:1 | #844 of 1,528 | #23 of 39 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 58.7% | #347 of 1,531 | #22 of 40 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 101% | #269 of 1,600 | #9 of 37 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -1.9% | #970 of 1,045 | #17 of 17 |
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
405
+54 (+15%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
13.3:1
was 11.3:1
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 | 405 | 30.5 | 13.3:1 | N/A |
| 2023-24 | 406 | 33.2 | 12.2:1 | N/A |
| 2022-23 | 386 | 30.6 | 12.6:1 | 100% (386) |
| 2020-21 | 351 | 31 | 11.3:1 | 99% (348) |
| 2017-18 | 413 | 27.6 | 14.9:1 | 90% (373) |
| 2015-16 | 393 | 30 | 13.1:1 | 81% (320) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Downey School.
Since 2017-18: students down 2% (413 to 405); teachers up 11% (27.6 to 30.5).
About Downey School
Downey School is a mid-sized elementary school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The school offers pre-K through 5 and enrolls 405 students.
Downey School is run by Harrisburg City SD, whose 12 schools enroll 6,462 students.
Black students account for 50% of enrollment at Downey School, more than any other group. Other students are 40% Hispanic and 9% multiracial. By comparison, Dauphin County residents are about 17% Black. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Downey School scores 59%.
The school has 30.5 full-time-equivalent teachers and a ratio of 13.3 students per teacher. That is in line with the 13.1:1 average for elementary schools in Pennsylvania.
Downey School earns an F on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 0% of Pennsylvania public elementary schools.
Downey School is in the bottom 10% of Pennsylvania schools on the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure. Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the model predicts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 34.4%. The school's actual rate is 4.9%, 29.5 points lower.
In the wider Dauphin County area, the median household earns about $76,242 a year, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 34% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 9%. Across Dauphin County, 75 public schools serve about 72,718 students.
Downey School's nearest public school is Benjamin Franklin School (about 0.5 miles). The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. Compared with its nearest neighbors, Downey School ranks 5th of 5 on average proficiency.
NCES describes the area around Downey School as City: Small, meaning inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
A 15% increase took enrollment from 351 in 2020-21 to 405 in 2024-25. The student-to-teacher ratio went up from 11.3:1 to 13.3:1.
This community page is for conversations about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. You can also rate the school on this page.
Dauphin County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
289,593
Census ACS
Median income
$76,242
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
75
72,718 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Harrisburg City SD
- Harrisburg High SchoolHigh · 1,343 students
- Camp Curtin AcademyMiddle · 724 students
- Benjamin Franklin SchoolElementary · 678 students
- Melrose SchoolElementary · 536 students
- Foose SchoolElementary · 522 students
- Scott at Lincoln SchoolElementary · 484 students
Other schools in Harrisburg
- Commonwealth Charter Academy CSCombined · 29,320 students
- Reach Cyber CSCombined · 5,721 students
- Central Dauphin SHSHigh · 1,966 students
- Central Dauphin East SHSHigh · 1,573 students
- Harrisburg High SchoolHigh · 1,343 students
- Dauphin County Technical SchoolHigh · 1,187 students
Other Downey schools
2 other US public schools in 2 states are named Downey. Downey School is the 2nd largest of the 3.
Nearby schools
- Benjamin Franklin School0.5 mi · 678
- Scott at Lincoln School0.6 mi · 484
- Cougar Academy0.6 mi · 300
- Pennsylvania STEAM Academy CS0.8 mi · 360
- Capital Area School for the Arts CS1.0 mi · 193
- Harrisburg HS - SciTech Cmp1.0 mi · 347
Frequently asked questions
About Downey SchoolHow large is Downey School?
Downey School enrolls approximately 405 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Downey School serve?
Downey School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Downey School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Downey School is approximately 13.3:1 (31 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Downey School?
At Downey School, the student body is approximately 1% White, 40% Hispanic, 50% Black, 0% Asian, 9% Two or more.
Is Downey School public or private?
Downey School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Harrisburg City SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.