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What do students at Fitzwater El Sch actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
431
Elementary
DISTRICT 464 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·UPPER DUBLIN SD·NCES 422439003385
Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School
School Lane, Willow Grove, PA 19090 · (215) 784-0381 · Montgomery County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL431 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
12.4:1
35 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.3:1 · STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
25%
106 students
DISTRICT 17% · 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 | 63 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 79 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 70 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 85 | 20% |
| Grade 4 | 55 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 79 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (63) is 20% smaller than its 5th grade class (79).
Student demographics
57%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 44% · 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 Upper Dublin SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
71.4%
PA avg 51.1% . -4.4pp since 2023
Math
71.3%
PA avg 43.0% . +0.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 71 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 71 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 have held steady.
PSSA + Keystone results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 71.4% | 71.3% |
| 2023-24 | 75.8% | 71.0% |
% 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
74.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
67.1%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+7.7pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 75% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 67% 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 Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School
Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School's state test result (74.7% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School this school | 431 | 24.6% | 74.7% |
| North Wales Elementary School North Wales | 484 | 26.4% | 69.0% |
| Fern Hill Elementary School West Chester | 408 | 22.3% | 68.4% |
| J H Brooks Elementary School Moon Township | 382 | 27.5% | 81.9% |
| South Elementary School Trappe | 459 | 26.6% | 75.2% |
| Oak Ridge Elementary School Harleysville | 420 | 19.5% | 63.8% |
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 Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Pennsylvania | In Montgomery County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 74.7% | #206 of 1,396 | #28 of 91 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 71.3% | #255 of 1,511 ▼ 29 | #37 of 92 ▼ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 71.4% | #193 of 1,511 ▲ 9 | #25 of 92 ▼ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 431 | #754 of 1,638 | #57 of 96 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.4:1 | #576 of 1,528 | #46 of 96 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 57.3% | #386 of 1,531 | #50 of 96 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 24.6% | #1,397 of 1,600 | #62 of 95 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +9.4% | #188 of 450 | #16 of 30 |
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
431
+51 (+13%) vs 2020
-9% since 1990-91, when it was 472
Student : Teacher
12.4:1
was 11.2:1
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 | 431 | 34.7 | 12.4:1 | 25% (106) |
| 2023-24 | 444 | 32.9 | 13.5:1 | 24% (106) |
| 2022-23 | 432 | 32.9 | 13.1:1 | 21% (89) |
| 2020-21 | 380 | 34 | 11.2:1 | 15% (58) |
| 2017-18 | 394 | 25.8 | 15.3:1 | 18% (71) |
| 2015-16 | 403 | 29 | 13.9:1 | 18% (74) |
| 2010-11 | 428 | 32 | 13.4:1 | 11% (45) |
| 2000-01 | 495 | 34 | 14.6:1 | 11% (53) |
| 1990-91 | 472 | 26 | 18.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 9% (394 to 431); teachers up 35% (25.8 to 34.7).
About Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School
Among the schools in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, is Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School, a mid-sized elementary school. Its grade span covers kindergarten through 5, with 431 students on the rolls.
The Upper Dublin SD system has 6 schools and 4,089 students.
The student body at Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School is 62% White. Beyond that, enrollment is 12% Black, 12% multiracial, 9% Asian, and 5% Hispanic. The White share of the county population is higher, at 73%. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 57%.
Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School reported 34.7 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, a ratio of 12.4:1. The average ratio among elementary schools in Pennsylvania is similar, at 13.1:1. There are 106 students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 25% of enrollment. That is 15 points below the 40% average for public schools in Montgomery County.
Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School is 7.7 points above its predicted average proficiency rate across its state test results (74.7% versus 67.1%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in Pennsylvania.
Montgomery County is the school's county. There, median household income comes to about $113,915, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 53%, and about 4% of people live in poverty. Montgomery County's 160 public schools enroll about 115,302 students and include Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School.
Among nearby public schools, Willow Hill School is closest at about 0.8 miles. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. The nearest schools with test data average 67.9%, lower than Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School's 74.7%.
NCES assigns Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School the locale Suburb: Large, meaning in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School had a net gain of 51 students, or 13%. The ratio of students to teachers went from 11.2:1 to 12.4:1 over the same years.
The allk12 page for Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School lets the school community talk about special education services, counseling, and support programs. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Montgomery County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
867,573
Census ACS
Median income
$113,915
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
53%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
160
115,302 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Upper Dublin SD
- Upper Dublin High SchoolHigh · 1,272 students
- Sandy Run Middle SchoolMiddle · 962 students
- Fort Washington Elementary SchoolElementary · 518 students
- Jarrettown Elementary SchoolElementary · 454 students
- Maple Glen Elementary SchoolElementary · 452 students
Other schools in Willow Grove
- Upper Moreland High SchoolHigh · 1,077 students
- Willow Hill SchoolElementary · 362 students
- Eastern Center for Arts and TechnologyHigh · 9 students
Nearby schools
- Willow Hill School0.8 mi · 362
- Roslyn School1.1 mi · 400
- Jarrettown Elementary School1.4 mi · 454
- Sandy Run Middle School1.5 mi · 962
- Highland School1.8 mi · 452
- Copper Beech School1.9 mi · 860
Frequently asked questions
About Thomas Fitzwater Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School?
Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School enrolls approximately 431 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School serve?
Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School?
Approximately 12.4:1 students per teacher at Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School?
At Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School, the student body is approximately 62% White, 5% Hispanic, 12% Black, 9% Asian, 12% Two or more.
Is Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School public or private?
Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Upper Dublin SD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.