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Richard T. Yates Elementary

Public Grades PK, KG-5
790th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 1,110 Virginia Elementary Schools
Better than 29% of Virginia elementary schools
Summary

Richard T. Yates Elementary is a public elementary school in Newport News City Public Schools, serving 422 students in grades PK-5. The school has consistently ranked in the bottom 25% of Virginia elementary schools over the past decade and maintains a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger, indicating it is among the lowest-performing schools in the state.

Richard T. Yates Elementary's student performance on SOL (Standards of Learning) assessments has been below the district and state averages across all grade levels and subject areas. While the school's 4th-grade English Reading proficiency rate was 72.06%, compared to 59.99% for the district and 73.09% for the state, it struggled significantly in 3rd-grade Mathematics, with only 55.95% of students proficient or better, compared to 58.92% for the district and 72.89% for the state. The school also faces challenges with high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 15.7% to 23.7% over the past few years.

Interestingly, the nearby schools in the Newport News City Public Schools district, such as T. Ryland Sanford Elementary, Joseph H. Saunders Elementary, and Hidenwood Elementary, also have low statewide rankings and ratings, with most being in the bottom 25% of Virginia elementary schools. However, Deer Park Elementary, a public magnet school in the district, stands out with significantly higher student performance, ranking in the top 5% of Virginia elementary schools and achieving a 5-star rating from SchoolDigger.

448
Students ?
22.4
Student/teacher ratio ?
$9,446
Per pupil spending ?
97.8%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 73 Maxwell Ln
       Newport News, VA  23606

(757) 881-5450

District: Newport News City Public Schools


Students who attend Richard T. Yates Elementary usually attend:

Middle:    Ethel M. Gildersleeve Middle
High:    Menchville High
Racial breakdown:

White:
39.7%
African American:
37.9%
Hispanic:
9.6%
more
 See top rated Virginia elementary schools

 Compare Richard T. Yates Elementary to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Improving — 13th percentile in 2015 → 29th in 2025
Strengths
Ranking is trending up — up 16 percentile points since 2015
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Virginia average (63% vs 71% meeting standards)
!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing
!Mathematics scores 12 pts below the Virginia average
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school63%
District avg58%
Virginia avg71%
790th of 1,110
Virginia public elementary schools ?
Bottom 29%▲ up 16 pts since 2015
From bottom 13% (2015) to bottom 29% (2025)
See the entire ranking list of Virginia Elementary Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
7th of 24Elementary Schools in the Newport News City Public Schools
111th of 129Newport News City Public Schools among Virginia districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202533.6790 of 111028.8%★☆☆☆☆
202436.1772 of 111430.7%★★☆☆☆
202323.0907 of 111418.6%★☆☆☆☆
202227.3870 of 110921.6%★☆☆☆☆
202125.0852 of 110322.8%★☆☆☆☆
201930.7873 of 110521.0%★☆☆☆☆
201833.5841 of 109723.3%★☆☆☆☆
201735.2828 of 109924.7%★☆☆☆☆
201636.2816 of 109625.5%★☆☆☆☆
201522.7956 of 110013.1%★☆☆☆☆
20146.51086 of 11102.2%☆☆☆☆☆
201334.0836 of 112025.4%★☆☆☆☆
201217.81043 of 11176.6%☆☆☆☆☆
201132.4912 of 111718.4%★☆☆☆☆
201030.2950 of 111314.6%★☆☆☆☆
200942.9742 of 108231.4%★★☆☆☆
200867.0323 of 108170.1%★★★★☆
200760.7424 of 108360.8%★★★☆☆
200667.0320 of 107170.1%★★★★☆
200536.0793 of 106225.3%★☆☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202519.7508 of 57912.3%★☆☆☆☆
202422.4510 of 58813.3%★☆☆☆☆
202311.7535 of 5797.6%☆☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202529.0844 of 109623.0%★☆☆☆☆
202427.0867 of 109821.0%★☆☆☆☆
202319.7946 of 110014.0%★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202525.1861 of 104617.7%★☆☆☆☆
202425.8843 of 103618.6%★☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202537.0753 of 109331.1%★★☆☆☆
202443.2689 of 110137.4%★★☆☆☆
202327.1869 of 109320.5%★☆☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202554.7490 of 97349.6%★★☆☆☆
202455.3494 of 97949.5%★★☆☆☆
202345.7593 of 98439.7%★★☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
White (2025)50th percentile+21 vs school
Male (2025)31st percentile~ school
Female (2025)23rd percentile-6 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)18th percentile-11 vs school
African American (2025)12th percentile-17 vs school
By subject vs Virginia (2024-2025) ?
VA Studies71%~ state avg
English Reading65%-6 vs state
Mathematics61%-12 vs state
Science60%-9 vs state

5.0
2 ratings · 1 written review
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What people are saying
by a parent
Thursday, September 8, 2016

Open Quote This school is simply amazing and my child loves it. The staff seems to really love what they do. Its almost like a tight knit family and that is always an A+ in my book. Close Quote





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Frequently Asked Questions about Richard T. Yates Elementary

Students at Richard T. Yates Elementary are 40% White, 38% African American, 10% Hispanic, 10% Two or more races, 2% Asian, 1% American Indian.

In the 2024-25 school year, 448 students attended Richard T. Yates Elementary.

Richard T. Yates Elementary ranks 790th of 1110 Virginia elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 1 star out of 5.

Students who attend Richard T. Yates Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Ethel M. Gildersleeve Middle
High : Menchville High


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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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