The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in English language arts. The lowest is 6% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Bernice Mathews Elementary
Bernice Mathews Elementary sits on Elementary Drive in Reno, serving students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It is a regular public school within the Washoe County School District, the primary district for the Reno area. The school sits in a section of Reno where home values run below both the state and national benchmarks, with the typical area home valued modestly relative to Nevada as a whole. Rents in the surrounding zip code are also on the lower side, and recent year-over-year home values have edged down slightly. By the standard rent-to-income measure, renting here is more affordable than carrying a mortgage at current interest rates, though both options sit within reach for many local households compared to pricier parts of the region.
The student body is small for an elementary school, with enrollment spread fairly evenly across the grade levels from kindergarten through fifth. Pre-kindergarten serves a smaller cohort. The school's demographic makeup is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial majority of students identifying as such. Smaller groups of White, Black, Asian, multiracial, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaska Native students round out the enrollment. Every student in the building qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school firmly in the category of serving a high-poverty community. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not available in the provided records, so those populations cannot be characterized here.
On state assessments, Bernice Mathews posts proficiency rates that sit well below state midpoints. In math, roughly a quarter of tested students in grades three through five reached proficiency on the SBAC. In English language arts, the share was just above that level. Science results, drawn from a smaller tested group consistent with fifth-grade-only science testing in Nevada, showed only a handful of students reaching proficiency. Participation rates were strong across all three subjects, indicating that nearly all eligible students were tested. Average scale scores were not reported. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say from these records whether proficiency is improving or declining over time. The current proficiency picture is a soft spot a parent may want to look into further with the school, particularly in science, where results were especially low.
Reno itself is a mid-sized city that has evolved well beyond its old identity as a gambling and divorce-tourism destination. Publicly reported sources describe a metro area reshaped by large-scale investments from companies like Tesla, Amazon, Panasonic, Microsoft, Apple, and Google, which have turned the region into a growing technology and logistics hub. The University of Nevada, Reno adds an academic and institutional presence to the city. Downtown Reno retains a walkable core along Virginia Street and the Truckee River corridor, with casino resorts, restaurants, and civic buildings, but the broader city spans a large geographic footprint and is largely car-dependent outside that core. Annual events like Hot August Nights, the Great Reno Balloon Races, and the Reno Rodeo contribute to the city's civic life. The region continues to grow, drawing Bay Area companies and residents seeking lower costs, though specific housing development details tied to the school's immediate area were not identified in available sources.
Information on disciplinary practices, course offerings, staffing levels, attendance patterns, and special programs at Bernice Mathews was not available in the provided data. The school's Title I status and locale classification were also not reported. Without these pieces, the full picture of day-to-day school environment and student support remains incomplete. What the records do show is a neighborhood elementary school serving a community where nearly every family accesses the free or reduced-price lunch program, where state test results trail state expectations, and where the surrounding Reno area is in the midst of an economic transition that has brought new employers and new residents to the region.
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