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Alumni: what's one memory from J.B. Watkins Elementary that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
913
Elementary
DISTRICT 698 · STATE 499
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHESTERFIELD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510084000335
J.B. Watkins Elementary
501 Coalfield Rd., Midlothian, VA 23114 · (804) 378-2530 · Chesterfield County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL913 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
16.5:1
55 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.5:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
18%
160 students
DISTRICT 56% · 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
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. 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
90.0%
VA avg 74.2% . -1.0pp since 2022
Math
92.0%
VA avg 72.7% . +2.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 90 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 92 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.
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
89.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
83.3%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+6.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 90% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 83% 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 →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
913
-307 (-25%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
16.5:1
was 18.7:1
% White
64%
was 76%
% Hispanic
6%
was 4%
% Black
13%
was 8%
% Asian
9%
was 7%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About J.B. Watkins Elementary
J.B. Watkins Elementary, a substantial elementary school in Midlothian, Virginia, run under Chesterfield County Public Schools, caters to 913 students, covering grades pre-K through 5. By comparison, Virginia's public schools average about 499 students each, so J.B. Watkins Elementary sits 83% bigger than that benchmark.
Within Chesterfield County Public Schools, which oversees 65 schools and 64,194 students, J.B. Watkins Elementary is one campus in the system.
On demographics, J.B. Watkins Elementary lists that 64% of the student body identifies as White. Beyond that, the school reports 13% Black, 9% Asian, 8% multiracial, 6% Hispanic.
On the income-and-resources front, On paper, J.B. Watkins Elementary has 55 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 16.5:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 13.8:1 average. Around 18% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Chesterfield County (around 54%), the school's rate is south of typical.
On a demographically-adjusted basis, J.B. Watkins Elementary tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 83.3% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 89.9%.
Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Chesterfield County) logs that median household earnings sit near $101,931, roughly 44% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 5%. In all, Chesterfield County runs 76 public schools (combined enrollment of about 64,194 students), of which J.B. Watkins Elementary is one.
Midlothian High is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.4 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around J.B. Watkins Elementary. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts J.B. Watkins Elementary at 1st of 9; the average score across the group is 81.6%.
The campus sits in a suburban setting.
Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 25%: 1,220 students in 2018 compared to 913 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share contracted from 76% to 64%. Class-load math has pulled in: from 18.7:1 in 2018 to 16.5:1 in 2025.
Within the allk12 community for this school, members of the J.B. Watkins Elementary community share and discuss sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.
Chesterfield County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
377,869
Census ACS
Median income
$101,931
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
44%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
76
64,194 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Chesterfield County Public Schools
- Thomas Dale HighHigh · 2,582 students
- Cosby HighHigh · 2,507 students
- Manchester HighHigh · 2,236 students
- Lloyd C. Bird HighHigh · 2,131 students
- Midlothian HighHigh · 2,048 students
- Meadowbrook HighHigh · 1,953 students
Other schools in Midlothian
- Cosby HighHigh · 2,507 students
- Manchester HighHigh · 2,236 students
- Midlothian HighHigh · 2,048 students
- James River HighHigh · 1,842 students
- Clover Hill HighHigh · 1,742 students
- Tomahawk Creek MiddleMiddle · 1,650 students
Nearby schools
- Midlothian High0.4 mi · 2,048
- Midlothian Middle0.5 mi · 1,330
- Tomahawk Creek Middle2.2 mi · 1,650
- W.W. Gordon Elementary2.4 mi · 628
- Monacan High2.5 mi · 1,644
- Evergreen Elementary2.5 mi · 797
Frequently asked questions
About J.B. Watkins ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at J.B. Watkins Elementary?
J.B. Watkins Elementary enrolls approximately 913 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does J.B. Watkins Elementary serve?
J.B. Watkins Elementary serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at J.B. Watkins Elementary?
Approximately 16.5:1 students per teacher at J.B. Watkins Elementary.
How diverse is J.B. Watkins Elementary?
J.B. Watkins Elementary reports a student body of 64% White, 6% Hispanic, 13% Black, 9% Asian, 8% Two or more.
Is J.B. Watkins Elementary public or private?
J.B. Watkins Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Chesterfield County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.