Widewater Elementary

Public K-5

 101 Den Rich Rd
       Stafford, VA  22554


(540) 658-6380

District: Stafford County Public Schools

SchoolDigger Rank:
803rd of 1,114 Virginia Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $9,232 Help


Students who attend Widewater Elementary usually attend:

Middle:    Shirley C. Heim Middle
High:    Brooke Point High

Student/teacher ratio:  14.3 Help
Number of students:  626

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
36.3%
African American:
27.3%
White:
23.3%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  76.5% Help


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 Compare Widewater Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends
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Compare Details Widewater Elementary ranks worse than 72.1% of elementary schools in Virginia. It also ranks 16th among 17 ranked elementary schools in the Stafford County Public Schools District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2023 the calculated Average Standard Score was 33.83. (See more...)
Student Body
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Compare Details Student population at Widewater Elementary is diverse. Racial makeup is: Hispanic (36.3%), African American (27.3%), White (23.3%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 76.5% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Widewater Elementary is 14.3, which is the 4th best among 17 elementary schools in the Stafford County Public Schools District. (See more...)
Help
Compare Widewater Elementary employs 43.7 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Widewater Elementary is $9,232, which is the 5th highest among 17 elementary schools in the Stafford County Public Schools District.
Schooldigger 2023 Rankings:

Widewater Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Widewater Elementary 803rd of 1114 Virginia public elementary schools. (See Widewater Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


Multi-racial students:
English Language Learner students:
Female students:
Male students:
African American students:
Hispanic students:
White students:


Stafford County Public Schools:

SchoolDigger ranks Stafford County Public Schools 71st of 131 Virginia school districts. (See district ranking list.)

Average Parent Rating:

Read all reviews and ratings detail for Widewater Elementary.

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Rank History for Widewater Elementary

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Compare

Rank History for all students at Widewater Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools VA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2005 24.05 929th 1062 12.5%
2006 21.30 972nd 1071 9.2%
2007 34.15 849th 1083 21.6%
2008 36.48 803rd 1081 25.7%
2009 25.12 963rd 1082 11.0%
2010 42.18 791st 1113 28.9%
2011 26.99 976th 1117 12.6%
2012 44.62 708th 1117 36.6%
2013 33.55 840th 1120 25.0%
2014 37.88 773rd 1110 30.4%
2015 51.05 621st 1100 43.5%
2016 39.28 772nd 1096 29.6%
2017 30.39 880th 1099 19.9%
2018 18.41 978th 1097 10.8%
2019 27.23 910th 1105 17.6%
2021 31.01 806th 1103 26.9%
2022 32.38 816th 1109 26.4%
2023 33.83 803rd 1114 27.9%
See the entire list of Virginia Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Widewater Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools VA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 28.59 200th 245 18.4%
See the entire list of Best Virginia Elementary Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Widewater Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools VA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 46.66 153rd 300 49.0%
See the entire list of Best Virginia Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Female students at Widewater Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools VA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 29.75 846th 1100 23.1%
See the entire list of Best Virginia Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at Widewater Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools VA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 38.75 732nd 1093 33.0%
See the entire list of Best Virginia Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at Widewater Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools VA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 63.75 202nd 579 65.1%
See the entire list of Best Virginia Elementary Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Widewater Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools VA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 32.85 409th 564 27.5%
See the entire list of Best Virginia Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Widewater Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools VA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 40.87 652nd 984 33.7%
See the entire list of Best Virginia Elementary Schools for White 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.

Widewater Elementary Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 





Data source: Virginia Department of Education

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 1.8)
0%

25%

0%

0%

75%

  

Reviews:
by a parent
Thursday, June 10, 2021

Open Quote My Son is leaving this school after over 5 years to go to Parkside Elementary in Fredericksburg. After calling Widewater Elementary I was told by Mrs. White that it's against their school policy to transfer my child's Birth Certificate Copy to his new school. I said, ok. May I please pick it up from there. She replied by saying that is also against the school policy and told me to go to the DMV to get another copy which by the way has a 60 day wait time to get an appointment. When I asked to speak to the Principal I was told she is in a Staff Meeting. It's funny when there is always an issue with this school that there is a Staff Meeting. What a joke! Close Quote


by a parent
Monday, August 4, 2014

Open Quote My daughter is currently going into the second grade and we have had an amazing experience so far. The principal and vice principal are very attentive and very quick to respond to parent concerns. I feel I have a say so in my daughter's education and decision making. I was very concerned about sending my daughter to this school due to lower scores and some poor reviews, but on the advice of some of my friends who have children that attend this school and are early education specialists themselves, I am very glad I did!!! My daughter is excelling in school and absolutely loves it! The PTO is very active and I find that to be a very important aspect in the schools. When the parents are involved, the children succeed. Close Quote


by a parent
Friday, May 30, 2014

Open Quote I have 3 children going to this school and i regret ever moving here to have them goto this school. First they have a smile program for children who need extra help after school. My son absolutely loves the smile program. So I asked him what does he do there and the answer was "I do my homework then play". I asked do the teachers help you or anything answer was "only sometimes". Asked again what do you do after you finish your homework answer was "they let us play". They don't check over there homework to make sure they understand, they don't ask questions or anything. My son may possibly not pass or possibly a some school. Another issue was one of the students threatened to KILL my son in the 4th grade. What did the teacher do NOTHING. Principal wasn't notified, the teacher knew of this but decided not to say something about it brushing it off. We thought it was a big deal and brought it up to the principal and after making a big DEAL about it the parent was notified. Also they have misplaced 2 of my child on the wrong bus and my child told them that wasn't the right bus but put them on there anyways. This didn't happen once or twice but THREE TIMES to both my kids. They are below the standards academically and if I can make the decision again I would of have stayed in dumfries and let my kid go to mary williams elementary school which was hands down better than widewater. Much better structure, teachers, curriculum, pretty much everything was better at mary williams. AVOID WIDEWATER only way you can actions done sometimes is to directly speak with the superintendents in which we have done in more than 1 occasion. Close Quote


by a parent
Friday, October 21, 2011

Open Quote This school has a very poor special education program and policy. I have a special needs son that qualified for services immediately in other districts, however, Widewater has fought me tooth and nail over every single issue they could possibly fight over. Other parents have also told me that the curriculum is totally inadequate. Kindergartners still learning letters, colors and shapes (rather than any sort of reading skills), and much of the school caters to minorities with English as a second language, and this puts other children at a disadvantage. Close Quote



Enrollment information for Widewater 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 715 715
1990 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 638 638
1991 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a 660 660
1992 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 678 678
1993 607 34 8 14 2 n/a n/a 0 665
1994 622 58 11 12 1 n/a n/a 0 704
1995 631 71 15 13 0 n/a n/a 0 730
1996 631 71 15 13 0 n/a n/a 0 730
1997 629 94 12 12 3 n/a n/a 0 750
1998 596 95 14 16 2 n/a n/a 0 723
1999 625 108 13 16 1 n/a n/a 0 763
2000 612 115 15 15 1 n/a n/a -4 754
2001 608 148 14 23 1 n/a n/a 0 794
2002 631 142 21 40 3 n/a n/a 6 843
2003 631 142 21 40 3 n/a n/a 6 843
2004 562 136 16 52 2 n/a n/a 15 783
2005 548 145 16 64 2 n/a n/a 17 792
2006 493 129 18 80 2 n/a n/a 16 738
2007 420 128 24 89 4 n/a n/a 27 692
2008 417 131 19 89 2 n/a n/a 38 696
2009 317 180 17 116 0 n/a n/a 30 660
2010 315 185 20 109 1 n/a n/a 32 662
2011 289 167 25 153 7 1 42 0 684
2012 293 195 20 168 6 1 61 0 744
2013 321 201 22 179 6 0 76 0 805
2014 357 214 29 174 9 2 77 0 862
2015 358 215 31 208 5 2 77 0 896
2016 303 182 29 208 2 4 54 0 782
2017 285 194 34 225 3 4 55 0 800
2018 271 192 38 208 2 3 65 0 779
2019 254 204 34 225 3 2 71 0 793
2020 201 167 25 216 1 2 49 0 661
2021 174 134 26 186 2 3 43 0 568
2022 149 153 26 212 3 3 47 0 593
2023 146 171 43 227 0 2 37 0 626

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 Widewater Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1989 715 36.4 19.6 n/a
1990 638 34.9 18.2 n/a
1991 660 36.4 18.1 n/a
1992 678 37.1 18.2 n/a
1993 665 35.6 18.7 n/a
1994 704 36.4 n/a 13.1
1995 730 n/a 0.0 12.9
1996 730 n/a 0.0 12.9
1997 750 n/a 0.0 15.9
1998 723 n/a 0.0 15.5
1999 763 42.0 18.2 17.4
2000 754 n/a 0.0 16
2001 794 50.0 15.9 19.4
2002 843 54.5 15.5 14.1
2003 843 54.5 15.5 14.1
2004 783 52.5 14.9 15.9
2005 792 51.5 15.4 16.4
2006 738 50.0 14.8 19.9
2007 692 46.3 14.9 23
2008 696 37.0 18.8 22.8
2009 660 36.2 18.2 32.7
2010 662 38.1 17.3 36
2011 684 37.7 18.1 34.9
2012 744 38.0 19.5 39.4
2013 805 41.1 19.5 38.9
2014 862 41.0 21.0 39.8
2015 896 42.0 21.3 41.2
2016 782 37.0 21.1 44.6
2017 800 38.0 21.0 44.1
2018 779 39.0 19.9 47.8
2019 793 40.3 19.6 47.3
2020 661 37.0 17.8 53.4
2021 568 34.0 16.7 n/a
2022 593 35.0 16.9 59.5
2023 626 43.7 14.3 76.5

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 Widewater Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1989 715 36.4 19.6 n/a
1990 638 34.9 18.2 n/a
1991 660 36.4 18.1 n/a
1992 678 37.1 18.2 n/a
1993 665 35.6 18.7 n/a
1994 704 36.4 n/a 13.1
1995 730 n/a 0.0 12.9
1996 730 n/a 0.0 12.9
1997 750 n/a 0.0 15.9
1998 723 n/a 0.0 15.5
1999 763 42.0 18.2 17.4
2000 754 n/a 0.0 16
2001 794 50.0 15.9 19.4
2002 843 54.5 15.5 14.1
2003 843 54.5 15.5 14.1
2004 783 52.5 14.9 15.9
2005 792 51.5 15.4 16.4
2006 738 50.0 14.8 19.9
2007 692 46.3 14.9 23
2008 696 37.0 18.8 22.8
2009 660 36.2 18.2 32.7
2010 662 38.1 17.3 36
2011 684 37.7 18.1 34.9
2012 744 38.0 19.5 39.4
2013 805 41.1 19.5 38.9
2014 862 41.0 21.0 39.8
2015 896 42.0 21.3 41.2
2016 782 37.0 21.1 44.6
2017 800 38.0 21.0 44.1
2018 779 39.0 19.9 47.8
2019 793 40.3 19.6 47.3
2020 661 37.0 17.8 53.4
2021 568 34.0 16.7 n/a
2022 593 35.0 16.9 59.5
2023 626 43.7 14.3 76.5

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 Widewater Elementary

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YearExpenditures from Federal FundsExpenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $492 (6.7%) $6,890 (93.3%) $7,381
2020 $411 (5.2%) $7,529 (94.8%) $7,940
2021 $549 (5.9%) $8,683 (94.1%) $9,232

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

Impact of COVID-19 on Widewater 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 910th of 1105 Elementary schoolsRanks 803rd of 1114 Elementary schools
 10.3%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade Mathematics (Widewater Elementary)7851
 27%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Stafford County Public Schools)8167.3
 13.7%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Virginia)8269.1
 12.9%
3rd Grade English Reading (Widewater Elementary)5848.5
 9.5%
   3rd Grade English Reading (Stafford County Public Schools)7061.9
 8.1%
   3rd Grade English Reading (Virginia)7166.1
 4.9%
4th Grade Mathematics (Widewater Elementary)7156.4
 14.6%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Stafford County Public Schools)8569
 16%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Virginia)8369.7
 13.3%
4th Grade English Reading (Widewater Elementary)6565.6
 0.6%
   4th Grade English Reading (Stafford County Public Schools)7672.6
 3.4%
   4th Grade English Reading (Virginia)7572.7
 2.3%
5th Grade Mathematics (Widewater Elementary)7965.8
 13.2%
   5th Grade Mathematics (Stafford County Public Schools)8569.9
 15.1%
   5th Grade Mathematics (Virginia)8167
 14%
5th Grade Science (Widewater Elementary)6757.5
 9.5%
   5th Grade Science (Stafford County Public Schools)7761.8
 15.2%
   5th Grade Science (Virginia)7966
 13%
5th Grade English Reading (Widewater Elementary)7573.7
 1.3%
   5th Grade English Reading (Stafford County Public Schools)8172.2
 8.8%
   5th Grade English Reading (Virginia)7871.4
 6.6%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students793626
 21.1%
African American204171
 16.2%
American Indian30
 100%
Asian3443
 26.5%
Hispanic225227
 0.9%
Pacific Islander22
White254146
 42.5%
Two or More Races7137
 47.9%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients47.3%76.5%
 29.2%


Schools Near Widewater Elementary









Frequently Asked Questions about Widewater Elementary

In the 2022-23 school year, 626 students attended Widewater Elementary.

Widewater Elementary ranks 803rd of 1114 Virginia elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 1 star out of 5.

Students who attend Widewater Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Shirley C. Heim Middle
High : Brooke Point High

Students at Widewater Elementary are 36% Hispanic, 27% African American, 23% White, 7% Asian, 6% Two or more races.


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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. Attendance Areas provided by ATTOM.

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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