1
What's the most underrated thing about Arctic Light Elementary that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
361
Elementary
DISTRICT 294 · STATE 277
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·FAIRBANKS NORTH STAR BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 020060000055
Arctic Light Elementary
4167 Neely Rd, Fort Wainwright, AK 99703 · (907) 356-2038 · Fairbanks North Star Borough
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL361 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 25% of Alaska public elementary schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Alaska public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
18.1:1
20 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.1:1 · STATE 15.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
44%
158 students
DISTRICT 35% · STATE 65%
Community
2
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 13 | 4% |
| Kindergarten | 80 | 22% |
| Grade 1 | 63 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 65 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 44 | 12% |
| Grade 4 | 55 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 41 | 11% |
This year's kindergarten class (80) is 95% larger than its 5th grade class (41).
Student demographics
73%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 64% · STATE 71% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
AK STAR + Alaska Science 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
33.3%
AK avg 36.1% . +4.4pp since 2023
Math
37.5%
AK avg 34.6% . +11.9pp since 2023
What this means: On the AK STAR + Alaska Science, Alaska's statewide test, about 33 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 38 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Alaska schools, those numbers are about 36 and 35. Reading and writing scores are up about 4 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 12 points.
AK STAR + Alaska Science results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 33.3% | 37.5% |
| 2023-24 | 28.9% | 25.6% |
% Advanced + Proficient, all students and all tested grades.
Source: AK STAR + Alaska Science. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
32.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
38.3%
based on AK schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-5.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 33% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 38% typical for Alaska schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Alaska's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Arctic Light Elementary
Arctic Light Elementary's state test result (32.6% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arctic Light Elementary this school | 361 | 43.8% | 32.6% |
| Orion Elementary School JBER | 423 | 32.9% | 47.3% |
| Aurora Elementary JBER | 359 | 23.1% | 56.6% |
| Ladd Elementary Fairbanks | 383 | 34.2% | 44.5% |
| Ursa Minor Elementary JBER | 294 | 37.8% | 44.1% |
| Anne Wien Elementary Fairbanks | 360 | 46.7% | 34.3% |
Matched among Alaska elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Arctic Light Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Alaska | In Fairbanks North Star Borough |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 32.6% | #92 of 134 | #12 of 17 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.5% | #85 of 150 ▲ 24 | #10 of 18 ▲ 5 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 33.3% | #93 of 150 ▲ 11 | #11 of 18 ▲ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 361 | #40 of 169 | #7 of 20 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.1:1 | #102 of 125 | #10 of 16 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 73.1% | #38 of 125 | #4 of 16 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 43.8% | #71 of 142 | #4 of 17 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -32.9% | #16 of 115 | #2 of 13 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
361
-6 (-2%) vs 2020
-43% since 2000-01, when it was 635
Student : Teacher
18.1:1
was 16.7:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 361 | 20 | 18.1:1 | 44% (158) |
| 2023-24 | 431 | 21.4 | 20.1:1 | 51% (218) |
| 2022-23 | 467 | 22 | 21.2:1 | 50% (235) |
| 2020-21 | 367 | 22 | 16.7:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 538 | 27.4 | 19.7:1 | 54% (290) |
| 2015-16 | 543 | 26 | 20.9:1 | 58% (313) |
| 2010-11 | 472 | 28 | 16.9:1 | 60% (283) |
| 2000-01 | 635 | 31 | 20.5:1 | 54% (342) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Arctic Light Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 33% (538 to 361); teachers down 27% (27.4 to 20).
About Arctic Light Elementary
Arctic Light Elementary is the name of a medium-sized elementary school in Fort Wainwright, Alaska. Its 361 students are spread across pre-K through 5. The school's enrollment is 30% bigger than the 277 average for elementary schools in Alaska.
Arctic Light Elementary falls under Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, which has 34 schools enrolling 12,214 students.
The most common group at Arctic Light Elementary is White students, at 40%. Other groups include 28% Hispanic, 12% Black, 8% multiracial, and 7% Pacific Islander. The county population is about 69% White. Pick two students at random and there is a 73% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
Arctic Light Elementary counts 20 full-time-equivalent teachers, about 18.1 students for each one. This ratio sits 2.7 above the 15.3:1 average for elementary schools in Alaska. About 44% of students at the school meet free or reduced-price lunch income limits. It compares with 33% for public schools in Fairbanks North Star Borough.
Measured against Alaska public elementary schools, Arctic Light Elementary receives a C. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Arctic Light Elementary scores 32.6% on state tests, averaged across results. The predicted figure, based on its student poverty level, is 38.3%.
In the county around the school, Fairbanks North Star Borough, the median household income is $88,267, 33% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 3% of people live in poverty. There are 39 public schools in Fairbanks North Star Borough, enrolling about 23,777 students in all.
The closest public school to Arctic Light Elementary is Boreal Sun Charter School, about 1.2 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. In a group of 7 nearby schools with scores, Arctic Light Elementary ranks 3rd on average proficiency.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is City: Small: inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
Enrollment in 2024-25 was 361, close to the 367 recorded in 2020-21. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 16.7:1 to 18.1:1.
The Arctic Light Elementary community page is open for posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Fairbanks North Star Borough at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
95,460
Census ACS
Median income
$88,267
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
33%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
3%
Below federal line
Schools in county
39
23,777 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Fairbanks North Star Borough School District
- Lathrop High SchoolHigh · 788 students
- Fairbanks B.E.S.T.Combined · 784 students
- West Valley High SchoolHigh · 782 students
- North Pole High SchoolHigh · 695 students
- North Pole Middle SchoolMiddle · 631 students
- Tanana Middle SchoolMiddle · 523 students
Nearby schools
- Boreal Sun Charter School1.2 mi · 201
- Hunter Elementary1.2 mi · 332
- Lathrop High School1.4 mi · 788
- Alternative Learning Systems1.4 mi · 184
- Fairbanks B.E.S.T.1.4 mi · 784
- Barnette Magnet School1.4 mi · 417
Frequently asked questions
About Arctic Light ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Arctic Light Elementary?
Arctic Light Elementary enrolls approximately 361 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Arctic Light Elementary serve?
Arctic Light Elementary serves grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Arctic Light Elementary?
Approximately 18.1:1 students per teacher at Arctic Light Elementary.
How diverse is Arctic Light Elementary?
Arctic Light Elementary reports a student body of 40% White, 28% Hispanic, 12% Black, 2% Asian, 8% Two or more.
Is Arctic Light Elementary public or private?
Arctic Light Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Fairbanks North Star Borough School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.