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What advice would you give to incoming students at Keister Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
475
Elementary
DISTRICT 522 · STATE 499
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HARRISONBURG CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510186000783
Keister Elementary
100 Maryland Avenue, Harrisonburg, VA 22801 · (540) 434-6585 · Harrisonburg city
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL475 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.8:1
32 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.4:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
85%
404 students
DISTRICT 88% · 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 | 6 | 1% |
| Kindergarten | 73 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 80 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 82 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 70 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 92 | 19% |
| Grade 5 | 72 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (73) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (72).
Student demographics
62%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 61% · 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
60.0%
VA avg 74.2% . +6.0pp since 2022
Math
67.0%
VA avg 72.7% . +14.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 60 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 67 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Virginia schools, those numbers are about 74 and 73. Reading and writing scores are up about 6 points since 2022, while math scores are up about 14 points.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 60.0% | 67.0% |
| 2023-24 | 53.0% | 64.0% |
| 2022-23 | 54.0% | 53.0% |
% 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
62.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
65.0%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 63% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 65% 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 Keister Elementary
Keister Elementary's state test result (62.6% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keister Elementary this school | 475 | 85.1% | 62.6% |
| Bluestone Elementary Harrisonburg | 566 | 85.0% | 49.3% |
| Garland R. Quarles Elementary Winchester | 410 | 82.9% | 59.8% |
| Stone Spring Elementary Harrisonburg | 554 | 84.8% | 45.9% |
| Spotswood Elementary Harrisonburg | 468 | 83.8% | 40.9% |
| Frederick Douglass Elementary Winchester | 376 | 83.0% | 71.2% |
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 Keister Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia | In Harrisonburg city |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 62.6% | #775 of 1,101 | #1 of 6 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 67.0% | #744 of 1,111 ▲ 13 | #1 of 7 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 60.0% | #849 of 1,111 ▲ 127 | #1 of 7 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 475 | #645 of 1,176 | #5 of 7 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.8:1 | #745 of 1,105 | #7 of 7 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 62.4% | #499 of 1,106 | #3 of 7 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 85.1% | #429 of 1,157 | #3 of 7 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +28.0% | #33 of 324 | N/A |
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
475
+3 (+1%) vs 2020
-12% since 1990-91, when it was 539
Student : Teacher
14.8:1
was 17.5:1
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 | 475 | 32 | 14.8:1 | 85% (404) |
| 2023-24 | 496 | 33 | 15.0:1 | 81% (400) |
| 2022-23 | 526 | 38 | 13.8:1 | 80% (422) |
| 2020-21 | 472 | 27 | 17.5:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 371 | 29 | 12.8:1 | 69% (257) |
| 2015-16 | 534 | 34 | 15.7:1 | 62% (329) |
| 2010-11 | 454 | 34 | 13.3:1 | 61% (279) |
| 2000-01 | 440 | 35 | 12.6:1 | 38% (169) |
| 1990-91 | 539 | 36 | 15.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Keister Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 28% (371 to 475); teachers up 10% (29 to 32).
About Keister Elementary
Keister Elementary serves students in Harrisonburg, Virginia, as a medium-sized elementary school. It educates 475 students in pre-K through 5.
Harrisonburg City Public Schools has a total of 10 schools and 6,652 students, Keister Elementary among them.
Hispanic students are the largest group at Keister Elementary, with 49% of enrollment. The remaining shares are 36% White, 10% Black, and 4% multiracial. Harrisonburg city as a whole is about 24% Hispanic, so the school's share is higher. The chance that two students picked at random at Keister Elementary belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 62%.
Keister Elementary counts 32 full-time-equivalent teachers, about 14.8 students for each one. Among elementary schools in Virginia, the typical ratio is 13.8:1. The free or reduced-price lunch share, often used to gauge student poverty, is 85%. That is close to the 87% average for public schools in Harrisonburg city.
Keister Elementary scores 62.6% on state tests, averaged across results. The predicted figure, based on its student poverty level, is 65.0%.
Across Harrisonburg city, median household income is about $62,254, about 38% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 12%. Keister Elementary is among the 13 public schools in Harrisonburg city.
The nearest public school is Thomas Harrison Middle, at about 1.0 miles. Keister Elementary has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Among 8 nearby schools that report test results, Keister Elementary ranks 2nd on proficiency.
Federal records code the school's setting as City: Small.
Enrollment in 2024-25 was 475, close to the 472 recorded in 2020-21. From 2020-21 to 2024-25, the ratio fell from 17.5:1 to 14.8:1.
Conversations here can range across sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Harrisonburg city at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
51,392
Census ACS
Median income
$62,254
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
38%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
12%
Below federal line
Schools in county
13
6,934 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Harrisonburg City Public Schools
- Rocktown HighHigh · 1,011 students
- Harrisonburg HighHigh · 998 students
- Thomas Harrison MiddleMiddle · 771 students
- Skyline MiddleMiddle · 738 students
- Bluestone ElementaryElementary · 566 students
- Waterman ElementaryElementary · 557 students
Other schools in Harrisonburg
- Rocktown HighHigh · 1,011 students
- Harrisonburg HighHigh · 998 students
- Thomas Harrison MiddleMiddle · 771 students
- Skyline MiddleMiddle · 738 students
- Bluestone ElementaryElementary · 566 students
- Waterman ElementaryElementary · 557 students
Nearby schools
- Thomas Harrison Middle1.0 mi · 771
- Waterman Elementary1.3 mi · 557
- Spotswood Elementary1.3 mi · 468
- Bluestone Elementary1.3 mi · 566
- Harrisonburg High1.5 mi · 998
- Stone Spring Elementary1.6 mi · 554
Frequently asked questions
About Keister ElementaryHow large is Keister Elementary?
Keister Elementary enrolls approximately 475 students in grades PK-05.
Is Keister Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Keister Elementary is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Keister Elementary?
Approximately 14.8:1 students per teacher at Keister Elementary.
How diverse is Keister Elementary?
Keister Elementary reports a student body of 36% White, 49% Hispanic, 10% Black, 2% Asian, 4% Two or more.
What district is Keister Elementary in?
Keister Elementary is part of Harrisonburg City Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.