William Ramsay Elementary

Summary:

William Ramsay Elementary is a public elementary school in Alexandria, Virginia, serving 607 students in grades PK-5. The school is part of the Alexandria City Public Schools district, which is ranked 109 out of 130 school districts in Virginia and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

William Ramsay Elementary stands out from nearby schools in several key ways. The school has a significantly higher percentage of Hispanic students (52.88%) compared to surrounding schools, which range from 18.18% to 46.38% Hispanic. Academically, William Ramsay consistently ranks in the bottom 10% of Virginia elementary schools, with performance on SOL (Standards of Learning) tests well below district and state averages. The school also has an extremely high percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, ranging from 90.28% to 99.5%, much higher than the 61.53% to 95.62% range of nearby schools. Despite this, William Ramsay has the highest per-student spending, ranging from $13,113 to $15,935, compared to $10,766 to $13,225 at surrounding schools.

These factors suggest William Ramsay Elementary faces significant challenges. The school's academic performance has been declining, and the high concentration of Hispanic and low-income students may indicate underlying issues related to equity and access to educational opportunities. Addressing these challenges will require a comprehensive, data-driven approach that considers the unique needs of the student population and the effective deployment of resources to support student learning and success.


Detail:

Public PK, KG-5

 5700 Sanger Ave
       Alexandria, VA  22311


(703) 824-6950

District: Alexandria City Public Schools

SchoolDigger Rank:
1066th of 1,114 Virginia Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $15,935 Help


Students who attend William Ramsay Elementary usually attend:

High:    Alexandria City High School

Student/teacher ratio:  13.9 Help
Number of students:  607

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
52.9%
African American:
21.4%
Asian:
12.7%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  90.3% Help


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 Compare William Ramsay Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends
Help
Compare Details William Ramsay Elementary ranks worse than 95.7% of elementary schools in Virginia. It also ranks last among 14 ranked elementary schools in the Alexandria City Public Schools District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 6.26. (See more...)
Help
Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.
Student Body
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Compare Details William Ramsay Elementary has the largest elementary school student body size in the Alexandria City Public Schools District.  (See more...)
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at William Ramsay Elementary is $15,935, which is the 3rd highest among 14 elementary schools in the Alexandria City Public Schools District.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

William Ramsay Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks William Ramsay Elementary 1066th of 1114 Virginia public elementary schools. (See William Ramsay Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


English Language Learner students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Male students:
African American students:
Hispanic students:


Alexandria City Public Schools:

SchoolDigger ranks Alexandria City Public Schools 109th of 130 Virginia school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Your rating for William Ramsay Elementary?

Rank History for William Ramsay Elementary

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Rank History for all students at William Ramsay Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools VA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2005 27.75 894th 1062 15.8%
2006 21.33 971st 1071 9.3%
2007 15.51 1025th 1083 5.4%
2008 9.09 1060th 1081 1.9%
2009 9.70 1061st 1082 1.9%
2010 20.93 1027th 1113 7.7%
2011 14.97 1071st 1117 4.1%
2012 12.94 1074th 1117 3.8%
2013 14.39 1056th 1120 5.7%
2014 2.96 1101st 1110 0.8%
2015 19.01 987th 1100 10.3%
2016 15.79 1014th 1096 7.5%
2017 6.82 1064th 1099 3.2%
2018 11.51 1029th 1097 6.2%
2019 12.76 1028th 1105 7.0%
2021 4.10 1072nd 1103 2.8%
2022 13.88 995th 1109 10.3%
2023 5.57 1077th 1114 3.3%
2024 6.26 1066th 1114 4.3%
See the entire list of Virginia Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at William Ramsay Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools VA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 21.22 262nd 300 12.7%
2024 23.92 254th 306 17.0%
See the entire list of Best Virginia Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at William Ramsay Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools VA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2024 14.63 951st 1036 8.2%
See the entire list of Best Virginia Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at William Ramsay Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools VA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 6.44 1055th 1100 4.1%
2024 5.41 1063rd 1098 3.2%
See the entire list of Best Virginia Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at William Ramsay Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools VA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 5.46 1057th 1093 3.3%
2024 8.90 1039th 1101 5.6%
See the entire list of Best Virginia Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Asian students at William Ramsay Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools VA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 10.30 219th 230 4.8%
See the entire list of Best Virginia Elementary Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for African American students at William Ramsay Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools VA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 39.26 401st 579 30.7%
2024 48.71 332nd 588 43.5%
See the entire list of Best Virginia Elementary Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at William Ramsay Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools VA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 7.42 547th 564 3.0%
2024 15.71 519th 580 10.5%
See the entire list of Best Virginia Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Data source: test scores: Virginia Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

William Ramsay Elementary Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
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Data source: Virginia Department of Education

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 1)
0%

0%

0%

0%

100%

  

Reviews:
by a parent
Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Open Quote the good thing about this school is its cultural diversity. Other than that, much of the resources are used on ELL and trying to bring the kids up to par on reading. There is super low parent participation for a school with this many children. The school doesn't host any extracurricular programs to enhance or build children's interests; everything is centered around tutoring for reading and the SOLs. Some of the teachers show enthusiasm in what they do, but teacher participation in afterschool meetings or events is minimal. Close Quote



Enrollment information for William Ramsay Elementary

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Compare
Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1989 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 541 541
1990 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 527 527
1991 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a 468 468
1992 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 480 480
1993 81 225 78 120 1 n/a n/a 0 505
1994 60 188 50 101 1 n/a n/a 0 400
1995 67 272 62 158 0 n/a n/a 0 559
1996 67 272 62 158 0 n/a n/a 0 559
1997 66 302 58 165 1 n/a n/a 0 592
1998 72 296 71 202 3 n/a n/a 0 644
1999 76 313 68 257 5 n/a n/a 0 719
2000 84 291 58 268 3 n/a n/a -4 700
2001 54 244 58 276 1 n/a n/a 0 633
2002 55 260 45 229 1 n/a n/a 1 591
2003 55 260 45 229 1 n/a n/a 1 591
2004 51 264 65 246 4 n/a n/a 1 631
2005 52 234 81 256 2 n/a n/a 8 633
2006 50 216 51 257 1 n/a n/a 14 589
2007 38 232 62 210 3 n/a n/a 20 565
2008 34 236 67 199 1 n/a n/a 32 569
2009 34 234 66 268 2 n/a n/a 34 638
2010 36 208 61 324 1 n/a n/a 49 679
2011 38 177 50 390 3 2 42 0 702
2012 69 200 59 375 15 1 8 0 727
2013 88 234 42 433 19 2 11 0 829
2014 98 215 47 445 17 2 8 0 832
2015 96 244 51 468 17 3 8 0 887
2016 87 225 67 501 14 2 7 0 903
2017 106 215 69 509 12 3 8 0 922
2018 133 190 93 478 8 3 13 0 918
2019 91 144 65 379 1 0 4 0 684
2020 69 171 62 393 2 0 13 0 710
2021 51 152 50 327 2 0 9 0 591
2022 41 146 58 335 4 1 13 0 598
2023 66 130 77 321 2 0 11 0 607

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at William Ramsay Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1989 541 34.9 15.5 n/a
1990 527 36.5 14.4 n/a
1991 468 35.5 13.1 n/a
1992 480 36.2 13.2 n/a
1993 505 36.0 14.0 n/a
1994 400 22.3 n/a 51.5
1995 559 n/a 0.0 54.2
1996 559 n/a 0.0 54.2
1997 592 n/a 0.0 58.1
1998 644 n/a 0.0 53.4
1999 719 46.0 15.6 68.4
2000 700 n/a 0.0 67.3
2001 633 52.6 12.0 67.1
2002 591 54.0 10.9 68.1
2003 591 54.0 10.9 68.1
2004 631 51.0 12.4 67.3
2005 633 51.0 12.4 67.5
2006 589 56.0 10.5 66.1
2007 565 60.5 9.3 69.2
2008 569 39.0 14.6 68.2
2009 638 43.0 14.8 72.2
2010 679 48.0 14.1 85.9
2011 702 46.0 15.2 81.9
2012 727 42.5 17.1 84.9
2013 829 55.4 14.9 82.9
2014 832 44.9 18.5 85.3
2015 887 48.0 18.4 85.5
2016 903 47.0 19.2 85.6
2017 922 48.5 19.0 86.3
2018 918 56.8 16.1 85.7
2019 684 37.6 18.1 89.2
2020 710 33.5 21.1 84.9
2021 591 38.9 15.1 n/a
2022 598 34.0 17.5 99.5
2023 607 43.5 13.9 90.3

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio William Ramsay Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1989 541 34.9 15.5 n/a
1990 527 36.5 14.4 n/a
1991 468 35.5 13.1 n/a
1992 480 36.2 13.2 n/a
1993 505 36.0 14.0 n/a
1994 400 22.3 n/a 51.5
1995 559 n/a 0.0 54.2
1996 559 n/a 0.0 54.2
1997 592 n/a 0.0 58.1
1998 644 n/a 0.0 53.4
1999 719 46.0 15.6 68.4
2000 700 n/a 0.0 67.3
2001 633 52.6 12.0 67.1
2002 591 54.0 10.9 68.1
2003 591 54.0 10.9 68.1
2004 631 51.0 12.4 67.3
2005 633 51.0 12.4 67.5
2006 589 56.0 10.5 66.1
2007 565 60.5 9.3 69.2
2008 569 39.0 14.6 68.2
2009 638 43.0 14.8 72.2
2010 679 48.0 14.1 85.9
2011 702 46.0 15.2 81.9
2012 727 42.5 17.1 84.9
2013 829 55.4 14.9 82.9
2014 832 44.9 18.5 85.3
2015 887 48.0 18.4 85.5
2016 903 47.0 19.2 85.6
2017 922 48.5 19.0 86.3
2018 918 56.8 16.1 85.7
2019 684 37.6 18.1 89.2
2020 710 33.5 21.1 84.9
2021 591 38.9 15.1 n/a
2022 598 34.0 17.5 99.5
2023 607 43.5 13.9 90.3

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for William Ramsay Elementary

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YearExpenditures from Federal FundsExpenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $761 (5.8%) $12,352 (94.2%) $13,113
2020 $682 (5.1%) $12,752 (94.9%) $13,434
2021 $794 (5.0%) $15,141 (95.0%) $15,935

Data source: Virginia Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on William Ramsay Elementary

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 1028th of 1105 Elementary schoolsRanks 1077th of 1114 Elementary schools
 3.6%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade Mathematics (William Ramsay Elementary)6540.4
 24.6%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Alexandria City Public Schools)7158.1
 12.9%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Virginia)8269.1
 12.9%
3rd Grade English Reading (William Ramsay Elementary)4247.4
 5.4%
   3rd Grade English Reading (Alexandria City Public Schools)6260
 2%
   3rd Grade English Reading (Virginia)7166.1
 4.9%
4th Grade Mathematics (William Ramsay Elementary)5627.1
 28.9%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Alexandria City Public Schools)7148.6
 22.4%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Virginia)8369.7
 13.3%
4th Grade English Reading (William Ramsay Elementary)4243.8
 1.8%
   4th Grade English Reading (Alexandria City Public Schools)6659.6
 6.4%
   4th Grade English Reading (Virginia)7572.7
 2.3%
5th Grade Mathematics (William Ramsay Elementary)4925
 24%
   5th Grade Mathematics (Alexandria City Public Schools)7252.5
 19.6%
   5th Grade Mathematics (Virginia)8167
 14%
5th Grade Science (William Ramsay Elementary)5346.5
 6.5%
   5th Grade Science (Alexandria City Public Schools)6959
 10%
   5th Grade Science (Virginia)7966
 13%
5th Grade English Reading (William Ramsay Elementary)4345.5
 2.5%
   5th Grade English Reading (Alexandria City Public Schools)6959.1
 9.9%
   5th Grade English Reading (Virginia)7871.4
 6.6%
6th Grade Mathematics (William Ramsay Elementary)100100
   6th Grade Mathematics (Alexandria City Public Schools)6844
 24%
   6th Grade Mathematics (Virginia)7857
 21%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students684607
 11.3%
African American144130
 9.7%
American Indian12
 100%
Asian6577
 18.5%
Hispanic379321
 15.3%
Pacific Islander00
White9166
 27.5%
Two or More Races411
 175%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients89.2%90.3%
 1.1%


Schools Near William Ramsay Elementary









Frequently Asked Questions about William Ramsay Elementary

Students at William Ramsay Elementary are 53% Hispanic, 21% African American, 13% Asian, 11% White, 2% Two or more races.

Students who attend William Ramsay Elementary usually go on to attend:

High : Alexandria City High School

William Ramsay Elementary ranks in the bottom 4.3% of Virginia elementary schools.

In the 2022-23 school year, 607 students attended William Ramsay Elementary.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Virginia Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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