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What's the best and worst thing about the food at James K. Polk Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
804
Elementary
DISTRICT 591 · STATE 499
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ALEXANDRIA CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510012000043
James K. Polk Elementary
5000 Polk Ave, Alexandria, VA 22304 · (703) 461-4180 · Alexandria city
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL804 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 25% of Virginia public elementary schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
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
16.9:1
48 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.3:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
76%
609 students
DISTRICT 67% · 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 | 21 | 3% |
| Kindergarten | 123 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 117 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 131 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 158 | 20% |
| Grade 4 | 114 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 140 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (123) is 12% smaller than its 5th grade class (140).
Student demographics
76%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 72% · 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
57.0%
VA avg 74.2% . -1.0pp since 2022
Math
65.0%
VA avg 72.7% . +2.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 57 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 65 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 1 points since 2022, while math scores are up about 2 points.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 57.0% | 65.0% |
| 2023-24 | 60.0% | 61.0% |
| 2022-23 | 58.0% | 63.0% |
% 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
61.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
67.5%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-6.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 61% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 67% 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 James K. Polk Elementary
James K. Polk Elementary's state test result (61.0% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| James K. Polk Elementary this school | 804 | 75.7% | 61.0% |
| John F. Pattie Sr. Elementary Dumfries | 906 | 74.4% | 86.5% |
| Springwoods Elementary Woodbridge | 842 | 70.3% | 76.9% |
| Samuel W. Tucker Elementary Alexandria | 735 | 77.0% | 63.8% |
| Chris Yung Elementary Bristow | 719 | 70.8% | 73.8% |
| Leesylvania Elementary Woodbridge | 759 | 70.8% | 70.9% |
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 James K. Polk Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia | In Alexandria city |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 61.0% | #813 of 1,101 | #8 of 13 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 65.0% | #776 of 1,111 ▲ 34 | #6 of 14 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 57.0% | #905 of 1,111 ▼ 56 | #9 of 14 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 804 | #88 of 1,176 | #3 of 15 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.9:1 | #1,014 of 1,105 | #11 of 14 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 75.6% | #40 of 1,106 | #3 of 14 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 75.7% | #567 of 1,157 | #8 of 14 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -1.7% | #707 of 759 | #10 of 11 |
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
804
+74 (+10%) vs 2020
+54% since 1990-91, when it was 521
Student : Teacher
16.9:1
was 12.6:1
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 | 804 | 47.5 | 16.9:1 | 76% (609) |
| 2023-24 | 833 | 50.5 | 16.5:1 | 77% (638) |
| 2022-23 | 803 | 53.5 | 15.0:1 | 74% (592) |
| 2020-21 | 730 | 58 | 12.6:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 818 | 51.2 | 16.0:1 | 72% (589) |
| 2015-16 | 743 | 47 | 15.8:1 | 67% (498) |
| 2010-11 | 589 | 38 | 15.5:1 | 57% (337) |
| 2000-01 | 505 | 44 | 11.5:1 | 41% (207) |
| 1990-91 | 521 | 35 | 14.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for James K. Polk Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 2% (818 to 804); teachers down 7% (51.2 to 47.5).
About James K. Polk Elementary
James K. Polk Elementary is a large elementary school in Alexandria, Virginia. Its grade span covers pre-K through 5, with 804 students on the rolls. On average, elementary schools in Virginia enroll around 499, and this school is 61% bigger than that mark.
Alexandria City Public Schools has 18 schools and 16,575 students, and James K. Polk Elementary is one of those schools.
The student body at James K. Polk Elementary has no majority group. Hispanic students lead at 32%. The next largest groups are 26% Black, 25% White, 12% Asian, and 6% multiracial. The school's Hispanic share is 13 points above the 18% share among Alexandria city residents. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 76%.
For every teacher at James K. Polk Elementary, there are about 16.9 students; the school has 47.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for elementary schools in Virginia is 13.8:1, so this school has more students per teacher. There are 609 students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 76% of enrollment.
James K. Polk Elementary earns a C on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 25% of Virginia public elementary schools.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for James K. Polk Elementary is -6.5 points: 61.0% actual, 67.5% predicted.
Census data for Alexandria city show the median household earns about $119,681 a year, 66% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Public schools in Alexandria city number 20, with about 16,575 students.
James K. Polk Elementary's closest public school neighbor is Patrick Henry K-8 School, about 0.3 miles away. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. James K. Polk Elementary ranks 3rd of 7 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 61.0% against a local average of 55.0%.
James K. Polk Elementary is coded as City: Mid-size in federal locale data.
The school grew from 730 students in 2020-21 to 804 in 2024-25. Federal data show the ratio rising from 12.6:1 to 16.9:1.
This page is set up for the James K. Polk Elementary community to discuss homework, tutoring, and testing dates. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Alexandria city at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
156,976
Census ACS
Median income
$119,681
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
66%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
20
16,575 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Alexandria City Public Schools
- Alexandria City HighHigh · 4,655 students
- Francis C. Hammond MiddleMiddle · 1,597 students
- George Washington MiddleMiddle · 1,458 students
- Patrick Henry K-8 SchoolElementary · 1,075 students
- Mount Vernon ElementaryElementary · 933 students
- John Adams ElementaryElementary · 743 students
Other schools in Alexandria
- Alexandria City HighHigh · 4,655 students
- Hayfield SecondaryHigh · 3,256 students
- West Potomac HighHigh · 2,710 students
- Edison HighHigh · 2,294 students
- Thomas Jefferson High for Science and TechnologyHigh · 2,108 students
- Mount Vernon HighHigh · 1,858 students
Nearby schools
- Patrick Henry K-8 School0.3 mi · 1,075
- Francis C. Hammond Middle0.5 mi · 1,597
- Ferdinand T. Day Elementary0.8 mi · 589
- William Ramsay Elementary0.9 mi · 689
- John Adams Elementary1.0 mi · 743
- Early Childhood Center1.0 mi · 198
Frequently asked questions
About James K. Polk ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at James K. Polk Elementary?
James K. Polk Elementary enrolls approximately 804 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does James K. Polk Elementary serve?
James K. Polk Elementary serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at James K. Polk Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at James K. Polk Elementary is approximately 16.9:1 (48 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at James K. Polk Elementary?
At James K. Polk Elementary, the student body is approximately 25% White, 32% Hispanic, 26% Black, 12% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Is James K. Polk Elementary public or private?
James K. Polk Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Alexandria City Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.