Enrollment
104
Elementary
DISTRICT 206 · STATE 277
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·KENAI PENINSULA BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 020039000296
Fireweed Academy
995 Soundview Ave, Homer, AK 99603 · (907) 226-1260 · Kenai Peninsula Borough
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY43-RURALCHARTERTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL104 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.9:1
8 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.0:1 · STATE 15.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
42%
44 students
DISTRICT 48% · STATE 65%
Community
0
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 16 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 14 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 16 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 16 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 13 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 16 | 15% |
| Grade 6 | 13 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (16) is 23% larger than its 6th grade class (13).
Student demographics
45%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 48% · 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
62.5%
AK avg 36.1% . +7.3pp since 2023
Math
51.8%
AK avg 34.6% . +4.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the AK STAR + Alaska Science, Alaska's statewide test, about 63 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 52 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 7 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 4 points.
AK STAR + Alaska Science results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 62.5% | 51.8% |
| 2023-24 | 55.2% | 47.4% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of AK schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
56.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
38.8%
based on AK schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+17.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 57% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 39% typical for Alaska schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 18 points, placing it in Alaska's top 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 Fireweed Academy
Fireweed Academy's state test result (56.7% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fireweed Academy this school | 104 | 42.3% | 56.7% |
| Sterling Elementary Sterling | 114 | 38.6% | 37.6% |
| Chapman School Anchor Point | 168 | 51.2% | 48.3% |
| McNeil Canyon Elementary Homer | 144 | 47.2% | 56.0% |
| Paul Banks Elementary Homer | 189 | 40.7% | N/A |
| Two Rivers School Fairbanks | 67 | 47.8% | 45.0% |
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 Fireweed Academy ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Alaska | In Kenai Peninsula Borough |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 56.7% | #20 of 134 | #2 of 13 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 51.8% | #37 of 150 ▲ 13 | #5 of 15 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 62.5% | #7 of 150 ▲ 7 | #3 of 15 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 104 | #155 of 169 | #16 of 17 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 42.3% | #73 of 142 | #10 of 15 |
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
104
+19 (+22%) vs 2020
+300% since 2000-01, when it was 26
Student : Teacher
13.9:1
was 12.1:1
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 | 104 | 7.5 | 13.9:1 | 42% (44) |
| 2023-24 | 109 | 7.5 | 14.5:1 | 30% (33) |
| 2022-23 | 107 | 7.5 | 14.3:1 | 36% (39) |
| 2020-21 | 85 | 7 | 12.1:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 122 | 7 | 17.4:1 | 34% (41) |
| 2015-16 | 92 | 8 | 11.5:1 | 27% (25) |
| 2010-11 | 116 | 6 | 19.3:1 | 0% (0) |
| 2000-01 | 26 | 2 | 13.0:1 | 23% (6) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Fireweed Academy.
Since 2017-18: students down 15% (122 to 104); teachers up 7% (7 to 7.5).
About Fireweed Academy
Fireweed Academy is a small elementary school in Homer, Alaska, that operates as a charter school. The school reports 104 students in kindergarten through 6. The typical figure for elementary schools in Alaska is about 277 students.
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District enrolls 8,510 students, and its 42 schools include Fireweed Academy.
A majority of students at Fireweed Academy, 72%, are White. The rest of enrollment is 12% multiracial, 9% Hispanic, and 8% Native American. By the diversity index, Fireweed Academy comes in at 45%.
Fireweed Academy employs 7.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. That gives a ratio of about 13.9:1. That ratio is under the 15.3:1 average for elementary schools in Alaska. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility was 42% in 2024-25. That is close to the 43% average for public schools in Kenai Peninsula Borough.
Schools in Alaska with a similar free or reduced-price lunch share are predicted to post an average proficiency rate on state tests near 38.8%. Fireweed Academy posts 56.7%, 17.9 points above that, which places it in the top 10% statewide on BeatsExpectations.
Kenai Peninsula Borough has about 60,413 residents, and median household income is about $80,538, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 30%, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. The public schools of Kenai Peninsula Borough number 42 and enroll about 8,510.
West Homer Elementary is the closest public school, less than a tenth of a mile away in a straight line. There are 5 more public schools inside five miles. Among the 6 closest schools with test data, this one included, Fireweed Academy ranks 2nd on average proficiency.
Fireweed Academy has an NCES locale of Rural: Remote. The school is classified as a charter school in federal data.
The number of students climbed from 85 to 104 over 4 years. Students per teacher rose from 12.1 in 2020-21 to 13.9 in 2024-25.
Families, students, and staff can use this page to discuss sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week at Fireweed Academy. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Kenai Peninsula Borough at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
60,413
Census ACS
Median income
$80,538
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
30%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
42
8,510 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Kenai Peninsula Borough School District
- ConnectionsCombined · 1,188 students
- Soldotna High SchoolHigh · 695 students
- Kenai Central High SchoolHigh · 525 students
- Mt. View ElementaryElementary · 449 students
- Kenai Middle SchoolMiddle · 408 students
- Kalifornsky Beach ElementaryElementary · 384 students
Other schools in Homer
- Homer High SchoolHigh · 357 students
- West Homer ElementaryElementary · 211 students
- Homer Middle SchoolMiddle · 205 students
- Paul Banks ElementaryElementary · 189 students
- McNeil Canyon ElementaryElementary · 144 students
- Razdolna SchoolCombined · 74 students
Nearby schools
- West Homer Elementary0.0 mi · 211
- Homer Middle School0.4 mi · 205
- Homer High School1.5 mi · 357
- Homer Flex School1.8 mi · 36
- Paul Banks Elementary2.3 mi · 189
- Nikolaevsk School11.7 mi · 19
Frequently asked questions
About Fireweed AcademyHow many students attend Fireweed Academy?
Fireweed Academy enrolls approximately 104 students in grades KG-06.
What age range does Fireweed Academy serve?
Fireweed Academy serves students from grade KG through grade 06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Fireweed Academy?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Fireweed Academy is approximately 13.9:1 (8 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Fireweed Academy?
Fireweed Academy reports a student body of 72% White, 9% Hispanic, 12% Two or more.
Who oversees Fireweed Academy?
Fireweed Academy is overseen by Kenai Peninsula Borough School District in Kenai Peninsula Borough.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.