Enrollment
673
Virginia · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Alexandria, VA
Bush Hill Elementary
Federal NCES profile for Bush Hill Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 52/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 510126000438
👥 S:T ratio 45
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 10
📋 Attendance 82
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Bush Hill Elementary earns 52/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Virginia median.
- #19 of 42
- schools in Alexandria · Resource Index
- 52
- Resource Index · Higher
- 13.7:1
- students per teacher
- 23.1%
- free-lunch eligible
Bush Hill Elementary has class sizes near the Virginia median. Computed live against every Virginia school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Bush Hill Elementary ranks #19 of 42 schools in Alexandria, VA.
School address
District: Fairfax County Public Schools · Virginia
NCES ID 510126000438 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
49.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
13.7:1
vs 13.9:1 Virginia avg
-1% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
23.1%
vs 57.6% Virginia avg
-60% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Bush Hill Elementary compares with Virginia and U.S. medians
What stands out at Bush Hill Elementary
Scale and staffing sit near the state mainstream
Bush Hill Elementary is neither an extreme outlier in enrollment nor in student-teacher ratio among Virginia schools. Its profile therefore turns on the other dimensions rather than on scale alone: economic need, counselor coverage, program access, attendance, and district finance. This middle placement is useful because it prevents the campus from being mislabeled as unusually large, small, crowded, or teacher-dense when the federal comparison does not support that claim.
Need and resources require a component-level read
Bush Hill Elementary falls within the wide middle of the Virginia distribution on both free-meal eligibility and the Resource Investment Index. Neither measure supplies an honest headline by itself. The useful distinctions are in the components: classroom staffing, counselor availability, attendance, gifted-program access, and district spending. Those fields can pull in opposite directions even when the overall percentile looks ordinary.
Attendance is a relative strength
7.4% of Bush Hill Elementary students were chronically absent in the 2021-22 civil-rights collection. On its face, that is a comparatively low historical rate, though this page does not treat it as a current national benchmark or guarantee current-year performance. Here, attendance is a more distinctive signal than the presence or absence of any single specialist role.
Bush Hill Elementary is a mid-sized combined-grade school in Alexandria, Virginia, enrolling 673 students.
At 13.7:1, its student-teacher ratio sits close to the Virginia median, within a few percentage points of the 13.9:1 state norm, neither notably crowded nor notably small.
Economic need runs somewhat below the state's typical profile, with 23.1% of students eligible for free meals.
Enrollment of 673 puts it in the larger third of Virginia schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 1,868 scored Virginia schools.
Against 335 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #166.
Its student body is led by White (43%) and African American (20%) (diversity index 73/100).
Counselor access is stretched at roughly 449 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.
Attendance holds up well here: only 7.4% of students were chronically absent, below the typical post-pandemic national figure.
The surrounding Fairfax County Public Schools spends $17,977 per pupil, 23% above the Virginia average, a better-resourced district than most.
Among Alexandria's public schools, it stands alongside Hayfield Secondary (3,256 students): Bush Hill Elementary is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (13.7:1 vs 17.3:1).
Fairfax County Public Schools also operates Lake Braddock Secondary (4,411 students) and Robinson Secondary (3,710 students) alongside Bush Hill Elementary.
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Bush Hill Elementary compares
Bush Hill Elementary on the metrics families compare, against Virginia and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Virginia | Virginia avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 13.7:1 | ▼ 1% | 13.9:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 23.1% | ▼ 60% | 57.6% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 673 | top 34% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
13.7:1
Leaner classes than 60% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
673
Bigger than 78% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
23.1%
free-lunch eligible
- 60% below the Virginia average of 57.6%
Below the 40% Title I threshold; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
13.7:1
students per teacher
- 1% below state mean
Top 49% in Virginia - lower ratio than 51% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
7.4%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 5-10% range, close to the pre-pandemic national baseline.
Funding equity
$17,977
per pupil, district-wide
- above Virginia avg of $14,649
Somewhat above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors1.5 FTE
Per 449 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
19
in-school suspensions + 9 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 2.8 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 4.2 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
White 42.9%
African American 19.5%
Hispanic or Latino 17.2%
Asian 10.3%
Two or More 10.1%
Largest group: White at 42.9% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 72.8/100
Simpson diversity index - at 72.8, Bush Hill Elementary is more mixed than the Virginia school average of 53.7.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Fairfax County Public Schools, which includes Bush Hill Elementary.
$17,977
Per student
+23%
vs Virginia
Avg $14,649
+8%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 66.6%
State 23.3%
Federal 10.1%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
How Bush Hill Elementary Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Braddock Secondary | Larger | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Robinson Secondary | Larger | Lower economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Hayfield Secondary | Larger | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Chantilly High | Larger | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| West Springfield High | Larger | Similar economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Bush Hill Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 4,411
- Students per teacher
- 17:1
- Resource Index
- 57/100
- Enrollment
- 3,710
- Students per teacher
- 17.1:1
- Resource Index
- 54/100
- Enrollment
- 3,256
- Students per teacher
- 17.3:1
- Resource Index
- 53/100
- Enrollment
- 2,937
- Students per teacher
- 16.2:1
- Resource Index
- 47/100
- Enrollment
- 2,799
- Students per teacher
- 18.5:1
- Resource Index
- 45/100
Similar other schools in Alexandria
6 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.
Hayfield Secondary
Standard public school
3,256 students 17.3:1 students per teacher
Patrick Henry K-8 School
Standard public school
1,075 students 16.8:1 students per teacher
Parklawn Elementary
Standard public school
963 students 16.6:1 students per teacher
Mount Vernon Elementary
Standard public school
933 students 17.6:1 students per teacher
Hybla Valley Elementary
Standard public school
878 students 14.4:1 students per teacher
James K. Polk Elementary
Standard public school
804 students 15.2:1 students per teacher
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Virginia, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~673 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Bush Hill Elementary's federal record.
- Compare Bush Hill Elementary against another school. Compare schools
- Fairfax County Public Schools's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Bush Hill Elementary
How many students attend Bush Hill Elementary?
Bush Hill Elementary has 673 students enrolled. It is a public school in Alexandria, VA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Bush Hill Elementary?
The student-teacher ratio at Bush Hill Elementary is 13.7:1, which is 1% lower than the Virginia average of 13.9:1 and 13% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Bush Hill Elementary?
23.1% of students at Bush Hill Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Virginia average of 57.6%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Bush Hill Elementary?
The largest demographic group at Bush Hill Elementary is White at 42.9% of enrollment, in Alexandria, VA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 72.8/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Bush Hill Elementary?
Bush Hill Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 52/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, counselor availability, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
How does Bush Hill Elementary rank among schools in Alexandria?
By Resource Investment Index, Bush Hill Elementary ranks #19 of 42 schools in Alexandria, VA. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all schools in Alexandria on the city page.
What other schools are in Fairfax County Public Schools?
Besides Bush Hill Elementary, Fairfax County Public Schools also operates Lake Braddock Secondary (4,411 students), Robinson Secondary (3,710 students), and Hayfield Secondary (3,256 students). See the Fairfax County Public Schools district page for the complete list.
Related tools
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.