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Kempsville Elementary

Public Grades PK, KG-5
382nd
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 1,110 Virginia Elementary Schools
Better than 66% of Virginia elementary schools
Summary

Kempsville Elementary is a public elementary school in Virginia Beach, Virginia, serving 482 students from pre-kindergarten to 5th grade. The school is part of the Virginia Beach City Public Schools district, which is ranked 25th out of 129 school districts in the state and has a 4-star rating.

Kempsville Elementary consistently ranks in the top 25-30% of Virginia elementary schools, with a 4-star rating from SchoolDigger. The school's students perform significantly better than the state and district averages in SOL (Standards of Learning) assessments, particularly in Mathematics and English Reading. For example, in 2024-2025, Kempsville's 3rd-grade students scored 87.5% proficient or better in Mathematics, compared to 78.71% for the Virginia Beach City Public Schools district and 72.89% for the state of Virginia. The school also excels in supporting diverse student populations, with strong performance across different subgroups, including Hispanic, multi-racial, and students with disabilities.

While Kempsville Elementary's academic performance is impressive, the school has seen a gradual increase in chronic absenteeism rates, from 8.7% in 2023-2024 to 19.3% in 2022-2023. This is an area the school may want to focus on to improve student attendance and overall outcomes. Additionally, the school's military-connected students have performed slightly below the state average, suggesting the need for additional support in this area. Overall, Kempsville Elementary is a high-performing school, but it may benefit from addressing the rising chronic absenteeism and supporting its military-connected student population.

498
Students ?
13.5
Student/teacher ratio ?
$15,812
Per pupil spending ?
37.6%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 570 Kempsville Rd
       Virginia Beach, VA  23464

(757) 648-2720

District: Virginia Beach City Public Schools


Students who attend Kempsville Elementary usually attend:

Middle:    Kempsville Middle
High:    Kempsville High
Racial breakdown:

White:
51.8%
African American:
15.3%
Hispanic:
15.3%
more
 See top rated Virginia elementary schools

 Compare Kempsville Elementary to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Declining — 81st percentile in 2015 → 66th in 2025
Strengths
Test scores above the Virginia average (78% vs 71% meeting standards)
Above the Virginia median (66th percentile)
Worth a look
!Ranking has slipped — down 15 percentile points since 2015
!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school78%
District avg77%
Virginia avg71%
382nd of 1,110
Virginia public elementary schools ?
Top 34%▼ down 16 pts since 2015
From top 19% (2015) to top 34% (2025)
See the entire ranking list of Virginia Elementary Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
28th of 53Elementary Schools in the Virginia Beach City Public Schools
25th of 129Virginia Beach 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
202567.5382 of 111065.6%★★★☆☆
202476.0268 of 111475.9%★★★★☆
202376.0255 of 111477.1%★★★★☆
202274.4285 of 110974.3%★★★★☆
202171.9310 of 110371.9%★★★★☆
201980.6158 of 110585.7%★★★★☆
201881.4135 of 109787.7%★★★★☆
201777.1189 of 109982.8%★★★★☆
201676.0208 of 109681.0%★★★★☆
201575.8207 of 110081.2%★★★★☆
201478.4172 of 111084.5%★★★★☆
201364.1395 of 112064.7%★★★☆☆
201230.8930 of 111716.7%★☆☆☆☆
201152.1598 of 111746.5%★★☆☆☆
201048.8668 of 111340.0%★★☆☆☆
200946.3676 of 108237.5%★★☆☆☆
200852.7569 of 108147.4%★★☆☆☆
200770.9255 of 108376.5%★★★★☆
200662.1405 of 107162.2%★★★☆☆
200547.7618 of 106241.8%★★☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202558.4245 of 57957.7%★★★☆☆

Disabled

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202467.4107 of 35569.9%★★★★☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202565.7382 of 109665.1%★★★☆☆
202482.1153 of 109886.1%★★★★☆
202377.0228 of 110079.3%★★★★☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202581.480 of 60686.8%★★★★☆
202465.4189 of 58067.4%★★★☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202567.9275 of 104673.7%★★★★☆
202473.4210 of 103679.7%★★★★☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202565.4392 of 109364.1%★★★☆☆
202463.9419 of 110161.9%★★★☆☆
202371.2300 of 109372.6%★★★★☆

Military Connected

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202539.5133 of 19230.7%★★☆☆☆
202452.7111 of 19543.1%★★☆☆☆

Multi-racial

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202377.447 of 24580.8%★★★★☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202552.5516 of 97347.0%★★☆☆☆
202471.8240 of 97975.5%★★★★☆
202365.1340 of 98465.4%★★★☆☆
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)
Hispanic (2025)87th percentile+21 vs school
Multi-racial (2023)81st percentile+4 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)74th percentile+8 vs school
Disabled (2024)70th percentile-6 vs school
Female (2025)65th percentile~ school
Male (2025)64th percentile~ school
African American (2025)58th percentile-8 vs school
White (2025)47th percentile-19 vs school
Military Connected (2025)31st percentile-35 vs school
By subject vs Virginia (2024-2025) ?
Mathematics80%+8 vs state
English Reading79%+9 vs state
VA Studies74%+4 vs state
Science70%~ state avg

1.0
1 rating · 1 written review
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What people are saying
by a parent
Saturday, May 28, 2022

Open Quote My wife and I sent both of our kids to KES in the past year. Overall we had an OK experience with the school, up until a recent concert in which our daughter participated. The theme of the concert (described as an “informance” rather than a performance by the music teacher) was promoting world peace – who could be against that, right?

One of the songs the kids performed was Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” a song not about peace but about broken sexual relationships. To hear lyrics like “remember when I moved in you… and every breath we drew was hallelujah” from the mouths of elementary-age kids was awkward to say the least.

The culminating song of the concert was John Lennon’s “Imagine,” where our kids asked us to imagine a world with “no countries,” “no possessions” and “no religion.” In other words, imagine a world with no Muslims, no Christians, no Jews, no United States of America—wouldn’t that be wonderful? Nevermind that efforts to create a world with no countries, possessions or religion resulted in over 100 million deaths and unspeakable atrocities in the 20th century alone.

When I reached out to the principal to share my concerns, she responded that it was not the school’s intention to promote Marxism or utopianism. Perhaps, but this song selection shows poor judgment and lack of critical thinking on the part of the music teacher and school leadership.

Please don’t misunderstand me: as a university professor, I believe in examining and evaluating diverse perspectives I do not believe in censorship. This is not "the marketplace of ideas." This is a school using taxpayer money to promote bigoted, foolish and historically disastrous ideas and put them in the mouths of impressionable children. Moreover, if the leadership of this school exhibits such a lack of critical thinking, promoting naïve utopianism without stopping to think about its obvious implications, how can we as parents have any confidence that our children will learn how to think critically? Close Quote





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Frequently Asked Questions about Kempsville Elementary

In the 2024-25 school year, 498 students attended Kempsville Elementary.

Students who attend Kempsville Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Kempsville Middle
High : Kempsville High

Students at Kempsville Elementary are 52% White, 15% African American, 15% Hispanic, 12% Two or more races, 4% Asian, 1% Pacific Islander.

Kempsville Elementary ranks 382nd of 1110 Virginia elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.


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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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