The top reported proficiency rate is 29% in English language arts. The lowest is 26% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Veterans Memorial S.t.e.m. Academy
Veterans Memorial S.T.E.M. Academy sits on Locust Street in Reno, part of the Washoe County School District. It is a regular public elementary school serving kindergarten through fifth grade, and its name signals a focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The school enrolls a modest number of students spread across its six grade levels, with the largest cohort in fifth grade.
The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller groups of white students and children of two or more races, along with a few students identifying as Black, Asian, or Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander. Every student at the school qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which places Veterans Memorial among schools serving a high-poverty community. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not available, so those population details are absent here rather than implied to be small.
On state assessments, the picture is mixed and leans soft. In mathematics, roughly a quarter of tested students reached proficiency on the SBAC in the most recent year. English language arts results were slightly stronger but still below a third of tested students meeting the proficiency bar. Science results were suppressed, likely because the tested group was small, so no proficiency figure is available for that subject. Participation rates were strong across all three subjects. No multi-year trend data was provided, so there is no way to compare these results against prior years or judge whether the school is moving in a particular direction. Average scale scores were also missing. A parent considering this school may want to ask the administration how it is responding to these proficiency levels and what interventions or supports are in place, particularly in math.
The school's STEM designation is part of its identity, but the available data does not include details on specific STEM programming, course access, staffing ratios, discipline practices, attendance patterns, or extracurricular offerings. Without that information, it is hard to say how the STEM theme translates into day-to-day classroom experience. A family interested in this school would benefit from visiting and asking directly about the science and technology curriculum, lab or maker-space resources, and how those offerings differ from what a standard elementary program provides.
Reno itself is a mid-sized city that has changed substantially in recent years. Publicly reported sources describe a downtown core dominated by casino resorts and tourism along the Truckee River corridor, while the broader metro area has drawn large-scale investment from technology and logistics companies. The University of Nevada, Reno adds an academic presence to the city. Growth has been a defining story, with the population expanding as Bay Area companies have sought lower costs. The city is sprawling, with a walkable downtown and car-dependent residential areas farther out.
The housing market around the school's zip code tells a familiar Reno story. Home values sit slightly below the state benchmark and above the national one, with a modest year-over-year decline. Rents have been rising. For families considering the area, renting remains meaningfully cheaper than buying at current mortgage rates, and the price-to-income ratio is elevated relative to national norms. Median household income has been trending upward nationally, and unemployment has held steady at a moderate level.
Veterans Memorial occupies a particular niche: a small, high-poverty elementary school with a STEM identity in a growing, diversifying city, but with proficiency results that sit below where most families would want them. The data does not tell us why, and it does not tell us what the school is doing about it. Those are conversations worth having directly with the school.
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