Enrollment
279
Elementary
DISTRICT 380 · STATE 499
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510252001024
Harding Avenue Elementary
429 Harding Avenue, Blacksburg, VA 24060 · (540) 951-5732 · Montgomery County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL279 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 96% of Virginia public elementary schools
- A+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Virginia public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
13.2:1
21 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.8:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
24%
66 students
DISTRICT 51% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 43 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 45 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 51 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 50 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 51 | 18% |
| Grade 5 | 39 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (43) is 10% larger than its 5th grade class (39).
Student demographics
48%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 41% · 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
91.0%
VA avg 74.2% . -3.0pp since 2022
Math
90.0%
VA avg 72.7% . -5.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 91 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 90 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 down about 5 points.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 91.0% | 90.0% |
| 2023-24 | 92.0% | 91.0% |
| 2022-23 | 94.0% | 95.0% |
% Passing, all students and all tested grades.
Source: SOL. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
91.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
81.7%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+10.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 92% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 82% typical for Virginia schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Virginia's top nor bottom 10%.
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 Harding Avenue Elementary
Harding Avenue Elementary's state test result (91.8% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harding Avenue Elementary this school | 279 | 23.7% | 91.8% |
| Gilbert Linkous Elementary Blacksburg | 292 | 28.8% | 82.8% |
| Kipps Elementary Blacksburg | 358 | 23.2% | 86.6% |
| Forest Elementary Forest | 384 | 18.0% | 87.1% |
| Fort Lewis Elementary Salem | 250 | 21.6% | 88.8% |
| Harrington Waddell Elementary Lexington | 350 | 25.4% | 92.3% |
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 Harding Avenue Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia | In Montgomery County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 91.8% | #33 of 1,101 | #1 of 10 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 90.0% | #121 of 1,111 ▼ 53 | #2 of 10 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 91.0% | #57 of 1,111 ▼ 23 | #1 of 10 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 279 | #1,003 of 1,176 | #10 of 11 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.2:1 | #377 of 1,105 | #7 of 11 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 47.7% | #800 of 1,106 | #6 of 11 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 23.7% | #990 of 1,157 | #10 of 11 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -20.1% | #177 of 759 | #4 of 10 |
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
279
-24 (-8%) vs 2020
-27% since 1990-91, when it was 384
Student : Teacher
13.2:1
was 13.2:1
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 | 279 | 21.2 | 13.2:1 | 24% (66) |
| 2023-24 | 282 | 22 | 12.8:1 | 22% (61) |
| 2022-23 | 296 | 22.3 | 13.3:1 | 18% (52) |
| 2020-21 | 303 | 23 | 13.2:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 349 | 21.6 | 16.2:1 | 19% (67) |
| 2015-16 | 328 | 22 | 14.9:1 | 21% (68) |
| 2010-11 | 268 | 18 | 14.9:1 | 18% (48) |
| 2000-01 | 228 | 21 | 10.9:1 | 25% (57) |
| 1990-91 | 384 | 20 | 19.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Harding Avenue Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 20% (349 to 279); teachers down 2% (21.6 to 21.2).
About Harding Avenue Elementary
Federal records list Harding Avenue Elementary as an elementary school in Blacksburg, Virginia. The school covers kindergarten through 5 and reported 279 students in 2024-25. The school is 44% below the average for elementary schools in Virginia.
In Montgomery County Public Schools, 19 schools enroll a combined 9,461 students.
About 71% of the student body at Harding Avenue Elementary is White. Other groups make up 11% Asian, 7% Hispanic, 7% multiracial, and 4% Black. County-wide, 82% of Montgomery County residents are White. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 48%.
Harding Avenue Elementary has a student-to-teacher ratio of 13.2:1, with 21.2 full-time-equivalent teachers. The 13.8:1 average for elementary schools in Virginia is close to this figure. The school has 24% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Among public schools in Montgomery County, the average eligibility rate is 45%.
Harding Avenue Elementary earns an A+ on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 96% of Virginia public elementary schools.
On the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure, Harding Avenue Elementary is 10.1 points above the average proficiency rate across its state test results predicted for its free or reduced-price lunch share: 91.8% actual, 81.7% predicted. That is outside both the top and bottom 10% in Virginia.
For the population of Montgomery County, median household income comes to about $72,715, roughly 49% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Montgomery County's 23 public schools enroll about 9,461 students and include Harding Avenue Elementary.
Measured in a straight line, Gilbert Linkous Elementary is about 0.8 miles from Harding Avenue Elementary. Other public schools within five miles: 6. Nearby schools with test data average 80.7% proficiency; Harding Avenue Elementary posts 91.8%.
Harding Avenue Elementary has an NCES locale of City: Small.
Over the 4 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment fell 8%.
Parents, students, and staff can share information on pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback here. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Montgomery County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
99,101
Census ACS
Median income
$72,715
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
49%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
23
9,461 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Montgomery County Public Schools
- Blacksburg HighHigh · 1,325 students
- Christiansburg HighHigh · 1,072 students
- Blacksburg MiddleMiddle · 958 students
- Christiansburg MiddleMiddle · 778 students
- Auburn ElementaryElementary · 544 students
- Falling Branch ElementaryElementary · 535 students
Other schools in Blacksburg
- Blacksburg HighHigh · 1,325 students
- Blacksburg MiddleMiddle · 958 students
- Prices Fork ElementaryElementary · 457 students
- Kipps ElementaryElementary · 358 students
- Margaret Beeks ElementaryElementary · 346 students
- Gilbert Linkous ElementaryElementary · 292 students
Nearby schools
- Gilbert Linkous Elementary0.8 mi · 292
- Margaret Beeks Elementary1.4 mi · 346
- Kipps Elementary2.8 mi · 358
- Blacksburg Middle3.1 mi · 958
- Blacksburg High3.1 mi · 1,325
- Prices Fork Elementary4.5 mi · 457
Frequently asked questions
About Harding Avenue ElementaryHow large is Harding Avenue Elementary?
Harding Avenue Elementary enrolls approximately 279 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Harding Avenue Elementary serve?
Harding Avenue Elementary serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many teachers does Harding Avenue Elementary have?
Harding Avenue Elementary employs 21 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 13.2:1.
How diverse is Harding Avenue Elementary?
Harding Avenue Elementary reports a student body of 71% White, 7% Hispanic, 4% Black, 11% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Is Harding Avenue Elementary public or private?
Harding Avenue Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Montgomery County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.