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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the Penn Forest Elementary administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
408
Elementary
DISTRICT 373 · STATE 499
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ROANOKE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510333001468
Penn Forest Elementary
6328 Merriman Rd, Roanoke, VA 24018 · (540) 772-7590 · Roanoke County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY22-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL408 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.8:1
28 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.2:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
29%
117 students
DISTRICT 49% · 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 | 22 | 5% |
| Kindergarten | 59 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 60 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 53 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 61 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 85 | 21% |
| Grade 5 | 68 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (59) is 13% smaller than its 5th grade class (68).
Student demographics
52%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 48% · 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
92.0%
VA avg 74.2% . +2.0pp since 2022
Math
91.0%
VA avg 72.7% . +0.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 92 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 91 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 2 points since 2022, while math scores have held steady.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 92.0% | 91.0% |
| 2023-24 | 87.0% | 91.0% |
| 2022-23 | 90.0% | 91.0% |
% 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
89.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
80.3%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 89% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 80% 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 Penn Forest Elementary
Penn Forest Elementary's state test result (89.1% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penn Forest Elementary this school | 408 | 28.7% | 89.1% |
| Washington-Henry Elementary Mechanicsville | 386 | 35.8% | 76.8% |
| Cave Spring Elementary Roanoke | 489 | 23.1% | 88.6% |
| Harrington Waddell Elementary Lexington | 350 | 25.4% | 92.3% |
| Stone Robinson Elementary Charlottesville | 476 | 30.3% | 75.8% |
| Forest Elementary Forest | 384 | 18.0% | 87.1% |
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 Penn Forest Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia | In Roanoke County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 89.1% | #72 of 1,101 | #3 of 16 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 91.0% | #96 of 1,111 ▼ 27 | #3 of 16 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 92.0% | #40 of 1,111 ▲ 95 | #3 of 16 ▲ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 408 | #793 of 1,176 | #6 of 16 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.8:1 | #747 of 1,105 | #15 of 16 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 51.9% | #728 of 1,106 | #6 of 16 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 28.7% | #950 of 1,157 | #12 of 16 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -12.6% | #362 of 759 | #3 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
408
-30 (-7%) vs 2020
-27% since 1990-91, when it was 561
Student : Teacher
14.8:1
was 15.6:1
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 | 408 | 27.5 | 14.8:1 | 29% (117) |
| 2023-24 | 406 | 29 | 14.0:1 | 28% (113) |
| 2022-23 | 400 | 29.5 | 13.6:1 | 27% (106) |
| 2020-21 | 438 | 28 | 15.6:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 467 | 30.5 | 15.3:1 | 19% (88) |
| 2015-16 | 473 | 30 | 15.8:1 | 16% (76) |
| 2010-11 | 581 | 31 | 18.7:1 | 19% (112) |
| 2000-01 | 482 | 31 | 15.6:1 | 7% (32) |
| 1990-91 | 561 | 32 | 17.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Penn Forest Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 13% (467 to 408); teachers down 10% (30.5 to 27.5).
About Penn Forest Elementary
Penn Forest Elementary is the name of a low-enrollment elementary school in Roanoke, Virginia. A total of 408 students attend the school, which covers pre-K through 5.
Roanoke County Public Schools is the local district for Penn Forest Elementary. It runs 26 schools with 13,735 students.
At Penn Forest Elementary, White students make up 67% of the student body. After that, the student body is 9% multiracial, 9% Asian, 8% Black, and 6% Hispanic. Census figures show Roanoke County is about 83% White. Pick two students at random and there is a 52% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
Federal staffing data show 27.5 full-time-equivalent teachers at Penn Forest Elementary and a ratio of 14.8:1. This ratio sits 1.0 above the 13.8:1 average for elementary schools in Virginia. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility covers 29% of students. That is 20 points below the 49% average for public schools in Roanoke County.
Penn Forest Elementary's actual average proficiency rate on state tests (89.1%) and its predicted rate (80.3%) put it outside the top and bottom 10% of Virginia schools.
Federal survey data for Roanoke County show that the median household income is $83,709, roughly 37% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 4% of residents live below the federal poverty line. There are 26 public schools in Roanoke County, enrolling about 13,154 students in all.
The next-closest public school is Cave Spring High, about 0.7 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. On proficiency, Penn Forest Elementary is ahead of the 82.1% nearby average, ranking 1st of 9.
Federal records code the school's setting as Suburb: Mid-size.
Enrollment is down 7% from 2020-21, when Penn Forest Elementary had 438 students, to 2024-25, when it had 408.
Posts about science fairs, picture day, and bus routes are welcome on this page. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Roanoke County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
97,023
Census ACS
Median income
$83,709
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
37%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
26
13,154 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Roanoke County Public Schools
- William Byrd HighHigh · 1,134 students
- Cave Spring HighHigh · 1,046 students
- Northside HighHigh · 919 students
- Hidden Valley HighHigh · 832 students
- William Byrd MiddleMiddle · 802 students
- Cave Spring MiddleMiddle · 746 students
Other schools in Roanoke
- Patrick Henry HighHigh · 2,030 students
- William Fleming HighHigh · 1,957 students
- Cave Spring HighHigh · 1,046 students
- Northside HighHigh · 919 students
- Hidden Valley HighHigh · 832 students
- Cave Spring MiddleMiddle · 746 students
Nearby schools
- Cave Spring High0.7 mi · 1,046
- Cave Spring Elementary1.2 mi · 489
- Cave Spring Middle1.3 mi · 746
- Hidden Valley High2.0 mi · 832
- Green Valley Elementary2.0 mi · 483
- Clearbrook Elementary2.6 mi · 320
Frequently asked questions
About Penn Forest ElementaryHow many students attend Penn Forest Elementary?
Penn Forest Elementary enrolls approximately 408 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Penn Forest Elementary serve?
Penn Forest Elementary serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Penn Forest Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Penn Forest Elementary is approximately 14.8:1 (28 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Penn Forest Elementary?
Student demographics at Penn Forest Elementary are roughly 67% White, 6% Hispanic, 8% Black, 9% Asian, 9% Two or more.
What district is Penn Forest Elementary in?
Penn Forest Elementary is part of Roanoke County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.