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Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at Buffalo Trail Elementary this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
756
Elementary
DISTRICT 560 · STATE 499
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·LOUDOUN COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510225002832
Buffalo Trail Elementary
42190 Seven Hills Drive, Aldie, VA 20105 · (703) 722-2780 · Loudoun County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL756 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
12.9:1
59 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.0:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
12%
92 students
DISTRICT 31% · STATE 66%
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 | 98 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 135 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 100 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 136 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 154 | 20% |
| Grade 5 | 133 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (98) is 26% smaller than its 5th grade class (133).
Student demographics
69%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 73% · STATE 71% · 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
SOL 2024-25 . % PassingEnglish Language Arts
84.0%
VA avg 74.2% . -2.0pp since 2022
Math
84.0%
VA avg 72.7% . -4.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 84 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 84 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Virginia schools, those numbers are about 74 and 73. Reading and writing scores are down about 2 points since 2022, while math scores are down about 4 points.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 84.0% | 84.0% |
| 2023-24 | 83.0% | 84.0% |
| 2022-23 | 86.0% | 88.0% |
% Passing, all students and all tested grades.
Source: SOL. 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
83.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
84.8%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 84% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 85% typical for Virginia 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 Virginia'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 Buffalo Trail Elementary
Buffalo Trail Elementary's state test result (83.5% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Trail Elementary this school | 756 | 12.2% | 83.5% |
| Waxpool Elementary Ashburn | 678 | 16.7% | 89.9% |
| Poplar Tree Elementary Chantilly | 683 | 10.2% | 91.0% |
| Liberty Elementary South Riding | 813 | 18.5% | 86.8% |
| Floris Elementary Herndon | 666 | 11.9% | 85.0% |
| Navy Elementary Fairfax | 848 | 5.9% | 94.8% |
Matched among Virginia 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 Buffalo Trail Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia | In Loudoun County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 83.5% | #216 of 1,101 | #23 of 58 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 84.0% | #285 of 1,111 ▼ 47 | #30 of 59 ▼ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 84.0% | #216 of 1,111 ▲ 26 | #20 of 59 ▲ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 756 | #127 of 1,176 | #10 of 62 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.9:1 | #327 of 1,105 | #40 of 56 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 68.5% | #281 of 1,106 | #19 of 56 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 12.2% | #1,097 of 1,157 | #50 of 59 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -42.0% | #9 of 759 | #1 of 46 |
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
756
-403 (-35%) vs 2020
+66% since 2010-11, when it was 456
Student : Teacher
12.9:1
was 22.3:1
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 | 756 | 58.5 | 12.9:1 | 12% (92) |
| 2023-24 | 810 | 58.7 | 13.8:1 | 12% (99) |
| 2022-23 | 815 | 63 | 12.9:1 | 10% (82) |
| 2020-21 | 1,159 | 52 | 22.3:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 1,304 | 53.1 | 24.6:1 | 4% (50) |
| 2015-16 | 1,036 | 48 | 21.6:1 | 8% (86) |
| 2010-11 | 456 | 26 | 17.5:1 | 5% (24) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Buffalo Trail Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 42% (1,304 to 756); teachers up 10% (53.1 to 58.5).
About Buffalo Trail Elementary
Buffalo Trail Elementary is a large elementary school serving families in Aldie, Virginia. In all, 756 students attend the school in pre-K through 5. That puts enrollment 52% larger than the 499-student average for elementary schools in Virginia.
The district, Loudoun County Public Schools, operates 98 schools serving 81,486 students.
No group is above 50% at Buffalo Trail Elementary; the largest is Asian, at 47%. After that, the student body is 28% White, 8% multiracial, 8% Black, and 8% Hispanic. Among all residents of Loudoun County, the Asian share is about 22%. The diversity index for Buffalo Trail Elementary is 69%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
The student-to-teacher ratio at Buffalo Trail Elementary is 12.9:1, based on 58.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. Statewide, elementary schools in Virginia average 13.8:1. Lunch program data show 12% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Public schools in Loudoun County average 28%.
The school's average proficiency rate across its state test results is 83.5%. For its free or reduced-price lunch share, the predicted value is 84.8%.
Looking at the county, Loudoun County, median household income comes to about $181,765, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 65% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 3%. The county has 103 public schools and about 81,486 students.
Measured in a straight line, Liberty Elementary is about 0.9 miles from Buffalo Trail Elementary. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Of 9 schools in the immediate area with test results, Buffalo Trail Elementary ranks 8th on average proficiency.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is Suburb: Large.
The school's enrollment decreased 35% from 2020-21 to 2024-25. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio dropped to 12.9:1, from 22.3:1.
This community page is for conversations about open houses, carpools, and field trips. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Loudoun County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
432,998
Census ACS
Median income
$181,765
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
65%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
3%
Below federal line
Schools in county
103
81,486 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Loudoun County Public Schools
- Independence HighHigh · 2,166 students
- Lightridge HighHigh · 2,030 students
- Freedom HighHigh · 1,885 students
- Briar Woods HighHigh · 1,862 students
- John Champe HighHigh · 1,851 students
- Riverside HighHigh · 1,710 students
Other schools in Aldie
- Lightridge HighHigh · 2,030 students
- John Champe HighHigh · 1,851 students
- Willard MiddleMiddle · 1,684 students
- Mercer MiddleMiddle · 1,459 students
- Goshen Post ElementaryElementary · 851 students
- Hovatter ElementaryElementary · 810 students
Other Buffalo Trail Elementary schools
One other US public school is named Buffalo Trail Elementary. Buffalo Trail Elementary is the largest of the 2.
- Buffalo Trail Elementary SchoolAURORA, CO · 632 students
Nearby schools
- Liberty Elementary0.9 mi · 813
- Freedom High1.1 mi · 1,885
- Pinebrook Elementary1.1 mi · 699
- J. Michael Lunsford Middle1.2 mi · 1,182
- Cardinal Ridge Elementary1.5 mi · 834
- Hutchison Farm Elementary1.5 mi · 672
Frequently asked questions
About Buffalo Trail ElementaryHow many students attend Buffalo Trail Elementary?
Buffalo Trail Elementary enrolls approximately 756 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Buffalo Trail Elementary serve?
Buffalo Trail Elementary serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many teachers does Buffalo Trail Elementary have?
Buffalo Trail Elementary employs 59 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.9:1.
What is the student diversity at Buffalo Trail Elementary?
Student demographics at Buffalo Trail Elementary are roughly 28% White, 8% Hispanic, 8% Black, 47% Asian, 8% Two or more.
What district is Buffalo Trail Elementary in?
Buffalo Trail Elementary is part of Loudoun County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.