Carlin Springs Elementary

Located at 5995 South 5th Road, in Arlington, Virginia, Carlin Springs Elementary is a moderately sized primary school that educates 534 students (grades pre-K through 5), operated by Arlington County Public Schools.

Across the 36 schools in Arlington County Public Schools (27,950 students total), Carlin Springs Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Carlin Springs Elementary records that Hispanic students make up the majority at 77%; the rest breaks down as 9% Black, 8% Asian, 4% White. By comparison, Arlington County as a whole is about 16% Hispanic, so the school skews noticeably more Hispanic than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 51 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 10.4:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 13.8:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 57% of students at Carlin Springs Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is above Arlington County's rate of about 31%.

After controlling for student poverty, Carlin Springs Elementary is in the bottom 10% of Virginia public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 72.5%; Carlin Springs Elementary posts 34.9%, -37.6 points below that line.

Around the school, ACS estimates for Arlington County put the typical household earns roughly $142,114 per year, roughly 77% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 4% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Arlington County's 42 public schools (combined enrollment of about 27,950 students), Carlin Springs Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Kenmore Middle is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.2 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Carlin Springs Elementary at 8th of 8; the average score across the group is 65.4%.

Geographically, the school is in an inner-city area.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count contracted 13%: 616 students in 2018 compared to 534 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 68% to 77% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 14.2:1 in 2018 to 10.4:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the feed for Carlin Springs Elementary typically covers enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.