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What advice would you give to incoming students at Ponderosa Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
344
Elementary
DISTRICT 388 · STATE 380
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CENTRAL VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530111001756
Ponderosa Elementary
10105 E Cimmaron Dr, Spokane Valley, WA 99206 · (509) 558-6450 · Spokane County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL344 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.0:1
25 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.0:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
42%
144 students
DISTRICT 47% · STATE 51%
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 | 1 | 0% |
| Kindergarten | 43 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 46 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 58 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 77 | 22% |
| Grade 4 | 50 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 69 | 20% |
This year's kindergarten class (43) is 38% smaller than its 5th grade class (69).
Student demographics
40%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 39% · STATE 68% · 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
Smarter Balanced + WCAS 2024-25 . % Met or Exceeded StandardEnglish Language Arts
60.5%
WA avg 58.4% . +9.5pp since 2014
Math
60.0%
WA avg 51.2% . +6.1pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 61 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 60 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Washington schools, those numbers are about 58 and 51. Reading and writing scores are up about 10 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 6 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 60.5% | 60.0% |
| 2023-24 | 59.9% | 63.1% |
| 2022-23 | 51.4% | 49.1% |
| 2021-22 | 50.9% | 40.3% |
| 2018-19 | 67.0% | 65.2% |
| 2017-18 | 67.0% | 62.7% |
| 2016-17 | 57.9% | 52.9% |
| 2015-16 | 54.6% | 44.2% |
| 2014-15 | 51.0% | 53.9% |
% Met or Exceeded Standard, all students and all tested grades.
Source: Smarter Balanced + WCAS. 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
62.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
52.1%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+10.7pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 63% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 52% typical for Washington 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 Washington'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 Ponderosa Elementary
Ponderosa Elementary's state test result (62.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ponderosa Elementary this school | 344 | 41.9% | 62.9% |
| Woodridge Elementary Spokane | 369 | 39.0% | 48.3% |
| Heights Elementary Clarkston | 358 | 43.6% | N/A |
| Elger Bay Elementary CAMANO ISLAND | 376 | 41.2% | 41.7% |
| Columbia River Gorge Elementary School Washougal | 340 | 42.6% | N/A |
| Olalla Elementary School PORT ORCHARD | 315 | 39.7% | 65.9% |
Matched among Washington 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 Ponderosa Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Spokane County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 62.9% | #217 of 936 | #13 of 82 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 60.0% | #258 of 1,103 ▼ 50 | #16 of 83 ▼ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 60.5% | #289 of 1,102 ▲ 16 | #19 of 83 no change |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +14.7pp | #28 of 928 | #5 of 81 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 344 | #816 of 1,268 | #60 of 92 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.0:1 | #153 of 1,085 | #31 of 83 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 39.9% | #924 of 1,088 | #56 of 83 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 41.9% | #775 of 1,169 | #61 of 86 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -19.4% | #309 of 778 | #31 of 67 |
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
344
-45 (-12%) vs 2020
-27% since 1990-91, when it was 471
Student : Teacher
14.0:1
was 13.9:1
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 | 344 | 24.5 | 14.0:1 | 42% (144) |
| 2023-24 | 372 | 25.5 | 14.6:1 | 47% (173) |
| 2022-23 | 415 | 31.5 | 13.2:1 | 37% (152) |
| 2020-21 | 389 | 28 | 13.9:1 | 28% (107) |
| 2017-18 | 427 | 29 | 14.7:1 | 25% (106) |
| 2015-16 | 405 | 21 | 19.3:1 | 30% (123) |
| 2010-11 | 351 | 17 | 20.6:1 | 27% (96) |
| 2000-01 | 470 | 24 | 19.6:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 471 | 22 | 21.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Ponderosa Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 19% (427 to 344); teachers down 16% (29 to 24.5).
About Ponderosa Elementary
Ponderosa Elementary is a medium-sized elementary school for students in Spokane Valley, Washington. The school's 344 students are in pre-K through 5.
Central Valley School District has 15,087 students spread across 33 schools.
White students account for 76% of enrollment at Ponderosa Elementary. Other students are 9% Hispanic, 8% multiracial, 3% Black, and 2% Native American. By the diversity index, Ponderosa Elementary comes in at 40%.
The ratio of students to teachers is 14.0:1, with 24.5 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff. For comparison, elementary schools in Washington average 17.3:1. The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 42%. Compared with the 52% average for public schools in Spokane County, the school's rate is lower.
The model predicts 52.1% for a school in Washington with Ponderosa Elementary's free or reduced-price lunch share. Ponderosa Elementary posts 62.9%.
According to the American Community Survey, in Spokane County, median household income is about $78,582, 33% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. A total of 187 public schools operate in Spokane County, serving about 76,588 students.
Of nearby public schools, Chester Elementary School is the closest, at about 1.4 miles. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. The nearest schools with test data average 49.7%, lower than Ponderosa Elementary's 62.9%.
Its NCES locale code is City: Mid-size: the school is inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
The student count in 2024-25 was 344, 12% below the 389 of 2020-21.
To ask about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater, start a discussion on this page. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Spokane County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
549,056
Census ACS
Median income
$78,582
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
33%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
187
76,588 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Central Valley School District
- Ridgeline High SchoolHigh · 1,575 students
- University High SchoolHigh · 1,410 students
- Central Valley High SchoolHigh · 1,380 students
- Evergreen Middle SchoolMiddle · 668 students
- Sunrise ElementaryElementary · 644 students
- Greenacres ElementaryElementary · 637 students
Other schools in Spokane Valley
- University High SchoolHigh · 1,410 students
- Central Valley High SchoolHigh · 1,380 students
- East Valley High SchoolHigh · 912 students
- Evergreen Middle SchoolMiddle · 668 students
- Sunrise ElementaryElementary · 644 students
- Greenacres ElementaryElementary · 637 students
Other Ponderosa Elementary schools
11 other US public schools in 8 states are named Ponderosa Elementary. Ponderosa Elementary is the 11th largest of the 12.
- Ponderosa ElementaryAnaheim, CA · 785 students
- Ponderosa Elementary SchoolHOUSTON, TX · 740 students
- Ponderosa Elementary SchoolAURORA, CO · 634 students
- Ponderosa ElementarySunnyvale, CA · 524 students
- PONDEROSA ELEMENTARY SCHOOLPOST FALLS, ID · 466 students
Nearby schools
- Chester Elementary School1.4 mi · 410
- Horizon Middle School1.4 mi · 472
- Bowdish Middle School1.5 mi · 359
- University High School1.5 mi · 1,410
- University Elementary School1.6 mi · 291
- South Pines Elementary1.6 mi · 288
Frequently asked questions
About Ponderosa ElementaryHow large is Ponderosa Elementary?
Ponderosa Elementary enrolls approximately 344 students in grades PK-05.
Is Ponderosa Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Ponderosa Elementary is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Ponderosa Elementary?
Approximately 14.0:1 students per teacher at Ponderosa Elementary.
How diverse is Ponderosa Elementary?
Ponderosa Elementary reports a student body of 76% White, 9% Hispanic, 3% Black, 1% Asian, 8% Two or more.
What district is Ponderosa Elementary in?
Ponderosa Elementary is part of Central Valley School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.