Summary
Graham Road Elementary is a public elementary school in Falls Church, Virginia, serving 408 students in grades PK-6. The school faces significant challenges, including high poverty rates, low academic performance, and high chronic absenteeism.
With an exceptionally high percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, ranging from 86.65% to 90.18%, Graham Road Elementary consistently underperforms compared to the Fairfax County and Virginia state averages on SOL (Standards of Learning) assessments in mathematics, reading, and science. For example, in 2024-2025, the school's 3rd grade math proficiency rate was 78.26% compared to 75.55% for Fairfax County and 72.89% for Virginia. Additionally, Graham Road Elementary has had chronic absenteeism rates ranging from 11.3% to 19.3%, significantly higher than the 15.7% rate reported for the nearby schools, such as Shrevewood Elementary, Sleepy Hollow Elementary, and Pine Spring Elementary.
Despite the higher per-student spending at Graham Road Elementary, which was $13,447 in 2020-2021 compared to the nearby schools' range of $9,975 to $15,585 per student, the school's academic outcomes are significantly lower than the state and district averages, as well as the nearby schools. This suggests that factors beyond just funding, such as school leadership, teacher quality, and student/family engagement, may be contributing to the school's underperformance. While the nearby schools generally outperform Graham Road Elementary, they still lag behind the high-performing Oak Street Elementary, which is part of the Falls Church City Public Schools district.
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