Douglass Park Elementary

Douglass Park Elementary operates as a middle-of-the-pack elementary-level community in Portsmouth, Virginia, operated by Portsmouth City Public Schools. Current enrollment sits at 510 students spanning grades K through 6.

Within Portsmouth City Public Schools, which oversees 22 schools and 12,905 students, Douglass Park Elementary is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, Douglass Park Elementary reports that nearly all students (85%) are Black. Other groups include 9% Hispanic, 4% multiracial. That is noticeably more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 51%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Douglass Park Elementary records 33 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 15.4:1. The state averages around 13.8:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. An estimated 103% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, On a poverty-adjusted basis, Douglass Park Elementary sits in the bottom 10% statewide. Predicted proficiency from the FRL regression is roughly 60.1%; actual is 27.0%, a gap of -33.1 points.

Across the wider county, community-level numbers for Portsmouth city indicate median household earnings sit near $60,491, 24% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 14% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Portsmouth city's 24 public schools (combined enrollment of about 12,905 students), Douglass Park Elementary is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Victory Elementary, roughly 0.8 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Douglass Park Elementary. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Douglass Park Elementary ranks 8th on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 48.4%.

The school occupies an inner-city site.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Douglass Park Elementary has declined 25%, going from 683 students in 2018 to 510 in 2025. Over the same period, the Black share edged down from 97% to 85%. Class-load math has pulled in: from 18.2:1 in 2018 to 15.4:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, the feed for Douglass Park Elementary typically covers open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.