1
Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at Solomon/Plains El Sch this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
718
Elementary
DISTRICT 626 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WILKES-BARRE AREA SD·NCES 422630000294
Solomon/Plains Elementary School
41 Abbott St, Plains, PA 18705 · (570) 826-7222 · Luzerne County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL718 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 50% 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.
- 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
15.3:1
47 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.5:1 · STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
99%
708 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 | 108 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 133 | 19% |
| Grade 2 | 125 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 119 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 112 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 121 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (108) is 11% smaller than its 5th grade class (121).
Student demographics
64%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
40.5%
PA avg 51.1% . -6.4pp since 2023
Math
43.4%
PA avg 43.0% . +10.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 41 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 43 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 6 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 11 points.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 40.5% | 43.4% |
| 2023-24 | 46.9% | 32.5% |
% 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
46.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
35.3%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+10.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 46% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 35% 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 Solomon/Plains Elementary School
Solomon/Plains Elementary School's state test result (46.2% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solomon/Plains Elementary School this school | 718 | 98.6% | 46.2% |
| Tobyhanna El Center Pocono Pines | 551 | 99.5% | 55.9% |
| Swiftwater El Center Swiftwater | 971 | 99.7% | 50.8% |
| Drums El/MS Drums | 842 | 95.1% | 45.2% |
| Francis H Sheckler Elementary School Catasauqua | 589 | 96.9% | 36.9% |
| George D Steckel Elementary School Whitehall | 561 | 98.8% | 48.7% |
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 Solomon/Plains Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Luzerne County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 46.2% | #954 of 1,396 | #12 of 27 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 43.4% | #938 of 1,511 ▲ 149 | #11 of 27 ▲ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 40.5% | #999 of 1,511 ▼ 6 | #14 of 27 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 718 | #126 of 1,638 | #11 of 38 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.3:1 | #1,302 of 1,528 | #14 of 33 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.4% | #221 of 1,531 | #6 of 33 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 98.6% | #421 of 1,600 | #10 of 37 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -10.8% | #614 of 1,045 | #4 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
718
-66 (-8%) vs 2020
-1% since 2000-01, when it was 722
Student : Teacher
15.3:1
was 14.8:1
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 | 718 | 47.1 | 15.3:1 | 99% (708) |
| 2023-24 | 708 | 45 | 15.7:1 | 100% (708) |
| 2022-23 | 712 | 45.3 | 15.7:1 | 100% (712) |
| 2020-21 | 784 | 53 | 14.8:1 | 100% (781) |
| 2017-18 | 805 | 55.8 | 14.4:1 | 100% (805) |
| 2015-16 | 869 | 61 | 14.3:1 | 100% (869) |
| 2010-11 | 935 | 59 | 15.8:1 | 44% (413) |
| 2000-01 | 722 | 43 | 16.8:1 | 35% (254) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Solomon/Plains Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 11% (805 to 718); teachers down 16% (55.8 to 47.1).
About Solomon/Plains Elementary School
Solomon/Plains Elementary School is a large elementary school based in Plains, Pennsylvania. It educates 718 students in kindergarten through 5. The typical figure for elementary schools in Pennsylvania is about 443 students.
Wilkes-Barre Area SD is the district for Solomon/Plains Elementary School. It has 10 schools and 8,277 students.
White students form the largest group at Solomon/Plains Elementary School, 48% of enrollment. Enrollment also includes 33% Hispanic, 9% multiracial, and 8% Black. Among people living in Luzerne County, the White share is about 76%. The chance that two students picked at random at Solomon/Plains Elementary School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 64%.
At Solomon/Plains Elementary School, 47.1 full-time-equivalent teachers work with students, a ratio of about 15.3:1. That ratio is over the 13.1:1 average for elementary schools in Pennsylvania. Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch make up 99% of enrollment. Among public schools in Luzerne County, the average eligibility rate is 85%.
Measured against Pennsylvania public elementary schools, Solomon/Plains Elementary School receives a B-. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
When test results are adjusted for free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, Solomon/Plains Elementary School is 10.9 points above its prediction. Actual: 46.2%. Predicted: 35.3%.
Federal survey data for Luzerne County show that median household income is about $63,691, 25% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Solomon/Plains Elementary School is among the 65 public schools in Luzerne County.
Solomon/Plains Middle School is the public school closest to Solomon/Plains Elementary School, less than a tenth of a mile away. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. On average proficiency, Solomon/Plains Elementary School is 2nd of 7 nearby schools with test data.
Its NCES locale code is Suburb: Large: the school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Solomon/Plains Elementary School saw enrollment fall 8% between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Discussions about Solomon/Plains Elementary School may include school safety, transportation, and start times. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
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
- Daniel J Flood Elementary SchoolElementary · 616 students
Other schools in Plains
- Wilkes-Barre Area High SchoolHigh · 2,569 students
- Solomon/Plains Middle SchoolMiddle · 758 students
- Wilkes-Barre Area SD STEM AcademyHigh · 93 students
Nearby schools
- Solomon/Plains Middle School0.0 mi · 758
- Wilkes-Barre Area High School0.6 mi · 2,569
- Wilkes-Barre Area SD STEM Academy0.6 mi · 93
- Daniel J Flood Elementary School1.5 mi · 616
- Dana El Center1.6 mi · 626
- Dodson Elementary School1.9 mi · 522
Frequently asked questions
About Solomon/Plains Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Solomon/Plains Elementary School?
Solomon/Plains Elementary School enrolls approximately 718 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Solomon/Plains Elementary School serve?
Solomon/Plains Elementary School serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Solomon/Plains Elementary School?
Approximately 15.3:1 students per teacher at Solomon/Plains Elementary School.
How diverse is Solomon/Plains Elementary School?
Solomon/Plains Elementary School reports a student body of 48% White, 33% Hispanic, 8% Black, 1% Asian, 9% Two or more.
Who oversees Solomon/Plains Elementary School?
Solomon/Plains 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.