Coates Elementary

Coates Elementary operates as a big primary school in Herndon, Virginia, operated by Fairfax County Public Schools. Current enrollment sits at 996 students spanning grades pre-K through 6. That puts it 100% above the typical public school in Virginia, which averages around 499 students.

Across the 199 schools in Fairfax County Public Schools (179,323 students total), Coates Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, Coates Elementary reports that the most-represented group is Hispanic (33%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Other groups include 27% Black, 18% Asian, 17% White, 5% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 18% Hispanic, putting the school's mix visibly more Hispanic than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school currently runs with 70 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 14.2:1. The state averages about 13.8:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. Roughly 72% of students at Coates Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is noticeably above Fairfax County's rate of about 37%.

After controlling for student poverty, On a poverty-adjusted basis, Coates Elementary sits in the bottom 10% statewide. Predicted proficiency from the FRL regression is roughly 68.6%; actual is 50.8%, a gap of -17.8 points.

In the surrounding community, the surrounding county (Fairfax County) logs that median household income runs about $153,637, roughly 65% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 4%. Across Fairfax County's 222 public schools (combined enrollment of about 174,475 students), Coates Elementary is one campus in the mix.

McNair Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.9 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Coates Elementary ranks 7th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 71.3%.

Geographically, the school is in a suburban area.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count increased 35%: 738 students in 2018 compared to 996 in 2025. Asian enrollment moved from 27% to 18% across the same window.

On allk12, posts here usually surface around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.