Penn Forest Elementary

Penn Forest Elementary operates as a tight-knit elementary school in Roanoke, Virginia, part of Roanoke County Public Schools. Current enrollment sits at 408 students spanning grades pre-K through 5.

Within Roanoke County Public Schools, which oversees 26 schools and 13,735 students, Penn Forest Elementary is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, Penn Forest Elementary shows that 67% of the student body identifies as White; the rest looks like 9% multiracial, 9% Asian, 8% Black, 6% Hispanic. The wider county runs roughly 83% White, putting the school's mix considerably less White than the area baseline.

On the resource side, The school lists 28 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 14.8:1. The state averages around 13.8:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Around 29% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Roanoke County (around 49%), the school's rate is meaningfully below typical.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Penn Forest Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 80.3%; this one delivers 89.1%.

Zooming out to the county, community-level numbers for Roanoke County indicate median household income runs about $83,709, roughly 37% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 4% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Penn Forest Elementary is one of 26 public schools in Roanoke County (combined enrollment of about 13,154 students).

Cave Spring High is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.7 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Penn Forest Elementary comes 1st of 9 in the immediate cluster, above the nearby-schools average of 82.1%.

The school occupies a commuter-belt site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count contracted 13%: 467 students in 2018 compared to 408 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share ticked down from 82% to 67%.

On the community side, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.