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Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at Sonnie Penn Elementary this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
744
Elementary
DISTRICT 636 · STATE 499
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510313001864
Sonnie Penn Elementary
12980 Queen Chapel Rd, Woodbridge, VA 22193 · (703) 590-0344 · Prince William County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL744 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 84% of Virginia public elementary schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
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
16.8:1
44 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.8:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
70%
520 students
DISTRICT 57% · 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 | 33 | 4% |
| Kindergarten | 104 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 104 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 136 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 119 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 126 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 122 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (104) is 15% smaller than its 5th grade class (122).
Student demographics
78%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 74% · 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
80.0%
VA avg 74.2% . +0.0pp since 2022
Math
82.0%
VA avg 72.7% . +4.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 80 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 82 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Virginia schools, those numbers are about 74 and 73. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2022, while math scores are up about 4 points.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 80.0% | 82.0% |
| 2023-24 | 82.0% | 77.0% |
| 2022-23 | 80.0% | 78.0% |
% 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
80.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
69.1%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+11.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 81% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 69% 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 Sonnie Penn Elementary
Sonnie Penn Elementary's state test result (80.9% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sonnie Penn Elementary this school | 744 | 69.9% | 80.9% |
| Mary Williams Elementary Dumfries | 669 | 70.9% | 70.3% |
| Leesylvania Elementary Woodbridge | 759 | 70.8% | 70.9% |
| Lorton Station Elementary Lorton | 745 | 70.2% | 60.2% |
| Coates Elementary Herndon | 996 | 71.7% | 50.8% |
| Samuel W. Tucker Elementary Alexandria | 735 | 77.0% | 63.8% |
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 Sonnie Penn Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia | In Prince William County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 80.9% | #290 of 1,101 | #22 of 64 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 82.0% | #348 of 1,111 ▲ 92 | #22 of 64 ▲ 9 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 80.0% | #334 of 1,111 ▼ 58 | #22 of 64 ▼ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 744 | #140 of 1,176 | #18 of 64 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.8:1 | #1,005 of 1,105 | #50 of 64 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 78.0% | #3 of 1,106 | #1 of 64 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 69.9% | #685 of 1,157 | #40 of 64 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -15.1% | #294 of 759 | #16 of 45 |
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
744
+62 (+9%) vs 2020
+30% since 2000-01, when it was 573
Student : Teacher
16.8:1
was 16.6:1
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 | 744 | 44.3 | 16.8:1 | 70% (520) |
| 2023-24 | 715 | 46.4 | 15.4:1 | 40% (284) |
| 2022-23 | 708 | 42.3 | 16.8:1 | 37% (259) |
| 2020-21 | 682 | 41 | 16.6:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 876 | 50.1 | 17.5:1 | 38% (331) |
| 2015-16 | 821 | 48 | 17.1:1 | 36% (298) |
| 2010-11 | 638 | 32 | 19.9:1 | 36% (231) |
| 2000-01 | 573 | 33 | 17.4:1 | 14% (83) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sonnie Penn Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 15% (876 to 744); teachers down 12% (50.1 to 44.3).
About Sonnie Penn Elementary
Sonnie Penn Elementary is a medium-sized elementary school with an address in Woodbridge, Virginia. The school reports 744 students in pre-K through 5. The school's enrollment is 49% bigger than the 499 average for elementary schools in Virginia.
Sonnie Penn Elementary is one of 95 schools in Prince William County Public Schools, which enrolls 90,242 students in total.
Black students are the largest group at Sonnie Penn Elementary, with 29% of enrollment. The next largest groups are 24% Asian, 20% White, 18% Hispanic, and 9% multiracial. The school's Black share is 9 points above the 20% share among Prince William County residents. Sonnie Penn Elementary has a diversity index of 78%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Its teaching staff equals 44.3 full-time positions, a ratio of 16.8:1. That ratio is over the 13.8:1 average for elementary schools in Virginia. Around 70% of the school's students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Among public schools in Prince William County, the average eligibility rate is 55%.
Sonnie Penn Elementary is graded A- by allk12, scoring above 84% of Virginia public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Sonnie Penn Elementary scores 80.9% on state tests, averaged across results. The predicted figure, based on its student poverty level, is 69.1%.
Federal survey data for Prince William County show that median household income is about $131,402, 45% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Sonnie Penn Elementary is among the 102 public schools in Prince William County.
The nearest other public school, Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary, is about 0.8 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. Compared with its nearest neighbors, Sonnie Penn Elementary ranks 1st of 9 on average proficiency.
The school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more, according to its NCES locale (Suburb: Large).
Sonnie Penn Elementary had 682 students in 2020-21 and 744 in 2024-25, a 9% rise.
The Sonnie Penn Elementary community page is open for posts about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Prince William County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
488,880
Census ACS
Median income
$131,402
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
45%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
102
89,591 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Prince William County Public Schools
- Charles J. Colgan Sr. HighHigh · 2,956 students
- Woodbridge HighHigh · 2,898 students
- Osbourn Park HighHigh · 2,661 students
- Gainesville HighHigh · 2,648 students
- Gar-Field HighHigh · 2,524 students
- Forest Park HighHigh · 2,343 students
Other schools in Woodbridge
- Woodbridge HighHigh · 2,898 students
- Gar-Field HighHigh · 2,524 students
- Forest Park HighHigh · 2,343 students
- Freedom HighHigh · 2,303 students
- C.D. Hylton HighHigh · 1,859 students
- Lake Ridge MiddleMiddle · 1,487 students
Nearby schools
- Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary0.8 mi · 454
- Stuart M. Beville Middle1.3 mi · 1,181
- Kerrydale Elementary1.3 mi · 298
- Rosa Parks Elementary1.3 mi · 547
- Enterprise Elementary1.6 mi · 414
- Sharon C. McAuliffe Elementary1.7 mi · 379
Frequently asked questions
About Sonnie Penn ElementaryHow many students attend Sonnie Penn Elementary?
Sonnie Penn Elementary enrolls approximately 744 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Sonnie Penn Elementary serve?
Sonnie Penn Elementary serves grades PK-05.
How many teachers does Sonnie Penn Elementary have?
Sonnie Penn Elementary employs 44 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.8:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Sonnie Penn Elementary?
At Sonnie Penn Elementary, the student body is approximately 20% White, 18% Hispanic, 29% Black, 24% Asian, 9% Two or more.
Is Sonnie Penn Elementary public or private?
Sonnie Penn Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Prince William County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.