Enrollment
268
Elementary
DISTRICT 303 · STATE 499
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·AMHERST COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510021000068
Central Elementary
575 Union Hill Rd, Amherst, VA 24521 · (434) 946-9700 · Amherst County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL268 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
10.7:1
25 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.0:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
83%
222 students
DISTRICT 83% · STATE 66%
Community
0
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 1 | 0% |
| Kindergarten | 35 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 59 | 22% |
| Grade 2 | 43 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 47 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 40 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 43 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (35) is 19% smaller than its 5th grade class (43).
Student demographics
62%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 55% · 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
52.0%
VA avg 74.2% . -13.0pp since 2022
Math
56.0%
VA avg 72.7% . -4.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 52 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 56 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 13 points since 2022, while math scores are down about 4 points.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 52.0% | 56.0% |
| 2023-24 | 63.0% | 56.0% |
| 2022-23 | 65.0% | 60.0% |
% 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
50.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
65.5%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-15.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 50% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 66% 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 Central Elementary
Central Elementary's state test result (50.0% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Elementary this school | 268 | 82.8% | 50.0% |
| Amherst Elementary Amherst | 307 | 83.4% | 70.8% |
| Chatham Elementary Chatham | 236 | 86.0% | 72.9% |
| John L. Hurt Elementary Hurt | 257 | 87.5% | 87.3% |
| Rocky Mount Elementary Rocky Mount | 296 | 87.5% | 69.3% |
| Sontag Elementary Rocky Mount | 248 | 87.5% | 66.5% |
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 Central Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia | In Amherst County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 50.0% | #971 of 1,101 | N/A |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 56.0% | #940 of 1,111 ▼ 43 | N/A |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 52.0% | #985 of 1,111 ▼ 207 | N/A |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 268 | #1,017 of 1,176 | #5 of 6 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 10.7:1 | #57 of 1,105 | N/A |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 62.2% | #506 of 1,106 | N/A |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 82.8% | #467 of 1,157 | N/A |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -23.9% | #108 of 759 | 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
268
-87 (-25%) vs 2020
-9% since 1990-91, when it was 295
Student : Teacher
10.7:1
was 19.7:1
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 | 268 | 25 | 10.7:1 | 83% (222) |
| 2023-24 | 323 | 27 | 12.0:1 | 81% (262) |
| 2022-23 | 318 | 31 | 10.3:1 | 78% (249) |
| 2020-21 | 355 | 18 | 19.7:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 352 | 23.4 | 15.1:1 | 72% (254) |
| 2015-16 | 316 | 20 | 15.8:1 | 71% (225) |
| 2010-11 | 300 | 24 | 12.5:1 | 62% (185) |
| 2000-01 | 341 | 27 | 12.6:1 | 59% (201) |
| 1990-91 | 295 | 19 | 15.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Central Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 24% (352 to 268); teachers up 7% (23.4 to 25).
About Central Elementary
Central Elementary is a low-enrollment elementary school in Amherst, Virginia, one of the schools in Amherst County Public Schools. It teaches 268 students in pre-K through 5. That is 46% below the average of about 499 students for elementary schools in Virginia.
Amherst County Public Schools operates 9 schools. Combined enrollment is 3,900 students.
The largest group at Central Elementary is White students, at 56%. Other groups make up 19% Black, 14% multiracial, 6% Hispanic, and 3% Native American. County-wide, 74% of Amherst County residents are White. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 62%.
The school had 25 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 10.7:1. The school's 10.7:1 compares with an average of 13.8:1 for elementary schools in Virginia. The eligibility rate for free or reduced-price meals is 83%. That is in line with the 82% average for public schools in Amherst County.
After accounting for student poverty, Central Elementary is in the bottom 10% of Virginia schools. Its average proficiency rate across its state test results of 50.0% is 15.6 points below the 65.5% predicted for its lunch-eligibility share.
Amherst County is the school's county. There, the median household earns about $68,724 a year, roughly 25% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Public schools in Amherst County number 10, with about 3,900 students.
Central Elementary's nearest public school is Amherst Middle (about 0.2 miles). There are 3 more public schools inside five miles. Central Elementary places 9th of 9 on proficiency among the closest schools that report scores.
The NCES locale for Central Elementary is Rural: Distant, which covers schools in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
Over the 4 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment decreased 25%. By 2024-25, the school had 10.7 students per teacher, compared with 19.7 in 2020-21.
The discussion board for Central Elementary is open to topics like athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Amherst County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
31,485
Census ACS
Median income
$68,724
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
25%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
10
3,900 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Amherst County Public Schools
- Amherst County HighHigh · 1,240 students
- Monelison MiddleMiddle · 469 students
- Madison Heights ElementaryElementary · 449 students
- Amelon ElementaryElementary · 415 students
- Amherst MiddleMiddle · 371 students
- Amherst ElementaryElementary · 307 students
Other schools in Amherst
- Amherst County HighHigh · 1,240 students
- Amherst MiddleMiddle · 371 students
- Amherst ElementaryElementary · 307 students
- Temperance ElementaryElementary · 93 students
Other Central Elementary schools
151 other US public schools in 35 states are named Central Elementary. Central Elementary is the 121st largest of the 152.
- Central ElementaryPalmyra, VA · 751 students
- Central ElementaryLexington, VA · 466 students
- Central Elementary SchoolCarrollton, GA · 991 students
- CENTRAL ELEM.ST CHARLES, MO · 865 students
- Central ElementaryBanning, CA · 782 students
Nearby schools
- Amherst Middle0.2 mi · 371
- Amherst County High1.2 mi · 1,240
- Amherst Elementary1.4 mi · 307
- Amelon Elementary8.2 mi · 415
- Temperance Elementary8.9 mi · 93
- Monelison Middle9.0 mi · 469
Frequently asked questions
About Central ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Central Elementary?
Central Elementary enrolls approximately 268 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Central Elementary serve?
Central Elementary serves grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Central Elementary?
Approximately 10.7:1 students per teacher at Central Elementary.
How diverse is Central Elementary?
Central Elementary reports a student body of 56% White, 6% Hispanic, 19% Black, 2% Asian, 14% Two or more.
Who oversees Central Elementary?
Central Elementary is overseen by Amherst County Public Schools in Amherst County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.