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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the Cardinal Elementary administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
821
Elementary
DISTRICT 377 · STATE 499
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·RICHMOND CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510324001361
Cardinal Elementary
1745 Catalina Dr, Richmond, VA 23224 · (804) 780-5082 · Richmond city
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL821 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.7:1
52 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.5:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
100%
818 students
DISTRICT 99% · 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 | 123 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 151 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 131 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 140 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 134 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 142 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (123) is 13% smaller than its 5th grade class (142).
Student demographics
24%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 59% · 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
34.0%
VA avg 74.2% . +11.0pp since 2022
Math
55.0%
VA avg 72.7% . +20.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 34 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 55 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Virginia schools, those numbers are about 74 and 73. Reading and writing scores are up about 11 points since 2022, while math scores are up about 20 points.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 34.0% | 55.0% |
| 2023-24 | 31.0% | 42.0% |
| 2022-23 | 23.0% | 35.0% |
% Passing, all students and all tested grades.
Source: SOL. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of VA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
37.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
61.0%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-23.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 38% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 61% typical for Virginia 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 →
Schools most like Cardinal Elementary
Cardinal Elementary's state test result (37.6% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinal Elementary this school | 821 | 99.6% | 37.6% |
| Hybla Valley Elementary Alexandria | 878 | 99.1% | 48.5% |
| Hutchison Elementary Herndon | 970 | 92.4% | 38.5% |
| Lynbrook Elementary Springfield | 595 | 93.4% | 37.3% |
| Jennie Dean Elementary Manassas | 579 | 89.1% | 49.8% |
| Guilford Elementary Sterling | 504 | 99.4% | 37.5% |
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 Cardinal Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia | In Richmond city |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 37.6% | #1,074 of 1,101 | #19 of 26 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 55.0% | #968 of 1,111 ▲ 86 | #10 of 26 ▲ 9 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 34.0% | #1,106 of 1,111 ▲ 3 | #24 of 26 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 821 | #75 of 1,176 | #1 of 26 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.7:1 | #886 of 1,105 | #18 of 24 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 24.1% | #1,021 of 1,106 | #19 of 25 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 99.6% | #143 of 1,157 | #11 of 26 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +28.1% | #32 of 324 | N/A |
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
821
+14 (+2%) vs 2020
+55% since 1990-91, when it was 530
Student : Teacher
15.7:1
was 17.2:1
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 | 821 | 52.2 | 15.7:1 | 100% (818) |
| 2023-24 | 849 | 41 | 20.7:1 | 100% (846) |
| 2022-23 | 871 | 50 | 17.4:1 | 99% (858) |
| 2020-21 | 807 | 47 | 17.2:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 641 | 38 | 16.9:1 | 100% (638) |
| 2015-16 | 589 | 25 | 23.6:1 | 97% (573) |
| 2010-11 | 432 | 31 | 13.9:1 | 83% (358) |
| 2000-01 | 515 | 33 | 15.6:1 | 70% (363) |
| 1990-91 | 530 | 24 | 22.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Cardinal Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 28% (641 to 821); teachers up 37% (38 to 52.2).
About Cardinal Elementary
Located in Richmond, Virginia, Cardinal Elementary is a high-enrollment elementary school. The school reports 821 students in pre-K through 5. The school's enrollment is 65% above the 499 average for elementary schools in Virginia.
The 47 schools of Richmond City Public Schools, including Cardinal Elementary, enroll 20,962 students.
Federal enrollment data show Cardinal Elementary is 86% Hispanic. Other groups make up 11% Black. Richmond city as a whole is about 11% Hispanic, so the school's share is higher. The school's diversity index is 24%, meaning two students picked at random have a 24% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
The count of teachers at Cardinal Elementary is 52.2 full-time equivalents, for a ratio of 15.7:1. That is higher than the 13.8:1 average for elementary schools in Virginia. The school counts 818 students as eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, or 100%. That tracks the 99% average for public schools in Richmond city.
In Virginia, Cardinal Elementary is one of the bottom 10% of schools on BeatsExpectations, with an average proficiency rate on state tests of 37.6% compared with a predicted 61.0%.
Among Richmond city residents, the median household income is $64,587, roughly 46% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 12%. Cardinal Elementary is one of 61 public schools in the county.
The closest other public school is Broad Rock Elementary, about 1.0 miles away. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. On proficiency, Cardinal Elementary is behind the 48.4% nearby average, ranking 7th of 8.
NCES describes the area around Cardinal Elementary as City: Mid-size, meaning inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Compared with 2020-21, when it had 807 students, enrollment in 2024-25 was about the same at 821. Its ratio of students to teachers was 17.2:1 in 2020-21, and 15.7:1 in 2024-25.
Families, students, and staff can use this page to discuss school safety, transportation, and start times at Cardinal Elementary. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Richmond city at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
229,359
Census ACS
Median income
$64,587
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
46%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
12%
Below federal line
Schools in county
61
20,253 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Richmond City Public Schools
- Huguenot HighHigh · 1,469 students
- River City MiddleMiddle · 1,150 students
- Richmond High School for the ArtsHigh · 1,116 students
- Thomas Jefferson HighHigh · 749 students
- Armstrong HighHigh · 709 students
- G.H. Reid ElementaryElementary · 671 students
Other schools in Richmond
- John Randolph Tucker HighHigh · 2,132 students
- Douglas S. Freeman HighHigh · 1,881 students
- Hermitage HighHigh · 1,719 students
- Mills E. Godwin HighHigh · 1,702 students
- Monacan HighHigh · 1,644 students
- Huguenot HighHigh · 1,469 students
Other Cardinal Elementary schools
7 other US public schools in 6 states are named Cardinal Elementary. Cardinal Elementary is the largest of the 8.
- Cardinal ElementaryArlington, VA · 682 students
- Cardinal Elementary SchoolBrownsburg, IN · 650 students
- Cardinal ElementaryMUSKEGON, MI · 611 students
- Cardinal ElementaryEldon, IA · 495 students
- CARDINAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLSO SIOUX CITY, NE · 424 students
Nearby schools
- Broad Rock Elementary1.0 mi · 612
- J.L. Francis Elementary1.2 mi · 526
- Thomas C. Boushall Middle1.2 mi · 621
- Richmond High School for the Arts1.4 mi · 1,116
- Swansboro Elementary1.5 mi · 172
- Patrick Henry School Of Science And Arts1.8 mi · 310
Frequently asked questions
About Cardinal ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Cardinal Elementary?
Cardinal Elementary enrolls approximately 821 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Cardinal Elementary serve?
Cardinal Elementary serves grades PK-05.
How many teachers does Cardinal Elementary have?
Cardinal Elementary employs 52 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.7:1.
What is the student diversity at Cardinal Elementary?
Student demographics at Cardinal Elementary are roughly 1% White, 86% Hispanic, 11% Black, 0% Asian, 0% Two or more.
What district is Cardinal Elementary in?
Cardinal Elementary is part of Richmond City Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.