1
What's the biggest difference between Forestdale Elementary and what you expected?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
537
Elementary
DISTRICT 630 · STATE 499
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510126000472
Forestdale Elementary
6530 Elder Ave, Springfield, VA 22150 · (703) 313-4300 · Fairfax County
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL537 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
12.4:1
43 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.6:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
74%
397 students
DISTRICT 39% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 34 | 6% |
| Kindergarten | 87 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 66 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 87 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 85 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 58 | 11% |
| Grade 5 | 61 | 11% |
| Grade 6 | 59 | 11% |
This year's kindergarten class (87) is 47% larger than its 6th grade class (59).
Student demographics
70%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 74% · 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
45.0%
VA avg 74.2% . -3.0pp since 2022
Math
51.0%
VA avg 72.7% . +7.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 45 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 51 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 3 points since 2022, while math scores are up about 7 points.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 45.0% | 51.0% |
| 2023-24 | 47.0% | 47.0% |
| 2022-23 | 48.0% | 44.0% |
% 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
48.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
68.0%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-19.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 48% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 68% 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 Forestdale Elementary
Forestdale Elementary's state test result (48.3% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forestdale Elementary this school | 537 | 73.9% | 48.3% |
| Rosa Parks Elementary Woodbridge | 547 | 70.4% | 68.4% |
| Centre Ridge Elementary Centreville | 635 | 73.1% | 64.0% |
| Bren Mar Park Elementary Alexandria | 490 | 70.2% | 62.0% |
| John D. Jenkins Elementary Woodbridge | 634 | 70.2% | 67.5% |
| C.A. Sinclair Elementary Manassas | 636 | 70.6% | 78.4% |
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 Forestdale Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia | In Fairfax County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 48.3% | #998 of 1,101 | #121 of 136 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 51.0% | #1,010 of 1,111 ▼ 18 | #126 of 136 ▼ 8 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 45.0% | #1,054 of 1,111 ▼ 23 | #128 of 136 ▼ 6 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 537 | #489 of 1,176 | #105 of 144 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.4:1 | #240 of 1,105 | #33 of 143 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 70.3% | #209 of 1,106 | #44 of 143 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 73.9% | #597 of 1,157 | #29 of 140 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -1.5% | #718 of 759 | #106 of 110 |
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
537
+44 (+9%) vs 2020
+152% since 1990-91, when it was 213
Student : Teacher
12.4:1
was 10.7:1
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 | 537 | 43.2 | 12.4:1 | 74% (397) |
| 2023-24 | 532 | 46.2 | 11.5:1 | 67% (354) |
| 2022-23 | 563 | 44.8 | 12.6:1 | 63% (355) |
| 2020-21 | 493 | 46 | 10.7:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 545 | 45.8 | 11.9:1 | 53% (289) |
| 2015-16 | 556 | 44 | 12.6:1 | 49% (275) |
| 2010-11 | 580 | 35 | 16.6:1 | 44% (256) |
| 2000-01 | 413 | 33 | 12.5:1 | 29% (121) |
| 1990-91 | 213 | 19 | 11.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Forestdale Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 1% (545 to 537); teachers down 6% (45.8 to 43.2).
About Forestdale Elementary
Forestdale Elementary is a mid-sized elementary school with an address in Springfield, Virginia. The school teaches pre-K through 6 and enrolls 537 students.
The Fairfax County Public Schools system has 199 schools and 179,323 students.
Of every 100 students at Forestdale Elementary, about 46 are Hispanic, the largest group. The remaining students are 20% White, 17% Asian, 11% Black, and 4% multiracial. Census figures show Fairfax County is about 18% Hispanic. A diversity index of 70% means there is a 70% chance two randomly chosen students at Forestdale Elementary are from different groups.
There are 43.2 full-time-equivalent teachers at the school, a ratio of 12.4:1. The gap from the 13.8:1 average for elementary schools in Virginia is 1.4 students per teacher. On the income side, 74% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The 37% average for public schools in Fairfax County is 37 points lower.
On BeatsExpectations, which compares test results with what a school's student poverty level would predict, Forestdale Elementary ranks in the bottom 10% in Virginia. Its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 48.3%, against a prediction of 68.0%.
For Fairfax County, Census Bureau data show median household income comes to about $153,637, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 65%, and roughly 4% of residents are in poverty. The county has 222 public schools and about 174,475 students.
Measured in a straight line, Lewis High is about 0.3 miles from Forestdale Elementary. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. Of 8 schools in the immediate area with test results, Forestdale Elementary ranks 7th on average proficiency.
NCES describes the area around Forestdale Elementary as Suburb: Large, meaning in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
The school's student count rose 9% between the 2020-21 and 2024-25 school years. From 2020-21 to 2024-25, the ratio increased from 10.7:1 to 12.4:1.
Parents, students, and staff can share information on pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback here. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Fairfax County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,147,837
Census ACS
Median income
$153,637
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
65%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
222
174,475 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Fairfax County Public Schools
- Lake Braddock SecondaryHigh · 4,411 students
- Robinson SecondaryHigh · 3,710 students
- Hayfield SecondaryHigh · 3,256 students
- Chantilly HighHigh · 2,937 students
- West Springfield HighHigh · 2,799 students
- Westfield HighHigh · 2,737 students
Other schools in Springfield
- West Springfield HighHigh · 2,799 students
- Lewis HighHigh · 1,658 students
- Irving MiddleMiddle · 1,204 students
- Sangster ElementaryElementary · 928 students
- Orange Hunt ElementaryElementary · 874 students
- Keene Mill ElementaryElementary · 813 students
Nearby schools
- Lewis High0.3 mi · 1,658
- Key Middle0.5 mi · 700
- Key Center0.5 mi · 43
- Springfield Estates Elementary0.6 mi · 596
- Garfield Elementary1.1 mi · 315
- Lane Elementary1.2 mi · 716
Frequently asked questions
About Forestdale ElementaryHow large is Forestdale Elementary?
Forestdale Elementary enrolls approximately 537 students in grades PK-06.
What age range does Forestdale Elementary serve?
Forestdale Elementary serves students from grade PK through grade 06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Forestdale Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Forestdale Elementary is approximately 12.4:1 (43 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Forestdale Elementary?
At Forestdale Elementary, the student body is approximately 20% White, 46% Hispanic, 11% Black, 17% Asian, 4% Two or more.
What district is Forestdale Elementary in?
Forestdale Elementary is part of Fairfax County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.