The top reported proficiency rate is 41% in English language arts. The lowest is 18% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Elmcrest Elementary
Elmcrest Elementary sits on McDonald Drive in Reno, serving kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Washoe County School District. It is a regular public school with no charter or magnet designation. Virtually all of its students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which reflects the economic profile of the surrounding neighborhood. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial white population and smaller groups of other backgrounds. The school does not report its English learner or special education enrollment, so those figures are gaps a parent would need to ask about directly.
On state assessments, Elmcrest's results paint a mixed picture. In English language arts, the proficiency rate suggests somewhat more than a third of tested students are meeting grade-level expectations. Math proficiency sits just below that level. Science results are lower still, with only a small fraction of the tested group reaching proficiency. Participation rates are strong across all three subjects, which means nearly all eligible students were assessed. No average scale scores were reported, and there is no multi-year trend data available, so it is difficult to tell whether these numbers represent improvement, decline, or stability. A parent looking at these results may want to ask the school how it approaches science instruction specifically, and what interventions or supports are in place for reading and math.
The school sits in a zip code where home values run above the Nevada state benchmark and well above the national benchmark. Rents, by contrast, are relatively moderate. The broader Reno housing market has seen home values dip slightly year over year, while rents have climbed. For families considering the area, the cost of ownership is high relative to incomes, with an estimated monthly mortgage consuming a large share of a typical household's earnings. Renting is comparatively more affordable, though rent has been trending upward. The national unemployment rate has held steady at a low level.
Reno itself is a mid-sized city that has shifted considerably over the past decade. Publicly reported sources describe it as having absorbed large-scale technology investment from companies including Tesla, Amazon, Panasonic, Microsoft, Apple, and Google, which has reshaped parts of the regional economy around logistics, manufacturing, and tech. The University of Nevada, Reno adds an academic and cultural presence. Downtown has a walkable core along Virginia Street and the Truckee River, with casino resorts, restaurants, and civic institutions. Most residential areas outside downtown are car-dependent, though, given the city's large geographic footprint. Annual events like the Reno Rodeo, Hot August Nights, and the Great Reno Balloon Races bring seasonal energy. Outdoor recreation around Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada is within reach.
For Elmcrest families, this means living in a city with growing employment opportunities but also one where housing costs have strained affordability. The school's enrollment is modest for an elementary, with a relatively even distribution across grade levels. Because the school serves only early elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report and no high school course access data. Title I status was not reported in the available data, though the near-universal free and reduced-price lunch rate suggests the school serves a population that would typically qualify for that support.
Program offerings, staffing details, attendance patterns, and discipline data were not available in the provided materials. The Washoe County School District's recent curriculum or strategic initiatives were also not detailed in the available research. Parents wanting to understand what happens inside Elmcrest's classrooms day to day, beyond what the test results show, would benefit from speaking directly with school leadership about instructional priorities, teacher experience, and how the school supports its students given the economic pressures many families in the area face.
See more original research from School Decision →