Enrollment
114
Elementary
DISTRICT 206 · STATE 277
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·KENAI PENINSULA BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 020039000173
Sterling Elementary
35096 Sterling Hwy, Sterling, AK 99672 · (907) 262-4944 · Kenai Peninsula Borough
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY42-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL114 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
11.2:1
10 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.0:1 · STATE 15.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
39%
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 | 11 | 10% |
| Grade 1 | 13 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 20 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 17 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 15 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 21 | 18% |
| Grade 6 | 17 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (11) is 35% smaller than its 6th grade class (17).
Student demographics
43%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
23.5%
AK avg 36.1% . -2.2pp since 2023
Math
42.7%
AK avg 34.6% . +18.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the AK STAR + Alaska Science, Alaska's statewide test, about 24 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 43 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Alaska schools, those numbers are about 36 and 35. Reading and writing scores are down about 2 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 18 points.
AK STAR + Alaska Science results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 23.5% | 42.7% |
| 2023-24 | 25.7% | 24.3% |
% 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
37.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
40.1%
based on AK schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 38% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 40% 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 Sterling Elementary
Sterling Elementary's state test result (37.6% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling Elementary this school | 114 | 38.6% | 37.6% |
| Fireweed Academy Homer | 104 | 42.3% | 56.7% |
| 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% |
| Kaleidoscope School of Arts & Science Kenai | 205 | 38.5% | 18.9% |
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 Sterling Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Alaska | In Kenai Peninsula Borough |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 37.6% | #81 of 134 | #9 of 13 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 42.7% | #66 of 150 ▲ 47 | #8 of 15 ▲ 6 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 23.5% | #117 of 150 ▼ 5 | #13 of 15 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 114 | #154 of 169 | #15 of 17 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 38.6% | #83 of 142 | #12 of 15 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -50.9% | #1 of 115 | #1 of 10 |
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
114
-23 (-17%) vs 2020
-61% since 1990-91, when it was 292
Student : Teacher
11.2:1
was 10.5:1
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 | 114 | 10.2 | 11.2:1 | 39% (44) |
| 2023-24 | 124 | 11.1 | 11.2:1 | 47% (58) |
| 2022-23 | 150 | 13 | 11.5:1 | 46% (69) |
| 2020-21 | 137 | 13 | 10.5:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 232 | 16.9 | 13.7:1 | 49% (114) |
| 2015-16 | 239 | 17 | 14.1:1 | 41% (97) |
| 2010-11 | 164 | 13 | 12.6:1 | 48% (79) |
| 2000-01 | 244 | 16 | 15.3:1 | 36% (88) |
| 1990-91 | 292 | 14 | 20.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sterling Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 51% (232 to 114); teachers down 40% (16.9 to 10.2).
About Sterling Elementary
Sterling Elementary is a small elementary school in Alaska, with an address in Sterling. It educates 114 students in pre-K through 6. The typical figure for elementary schools in Alaska is about 277 students.
Sterling Elementary is among 42 schools run by Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, which serves 8,510 students.
At 74%, White students outnumber all other groups at Sterling Elementary combined. Smaller groups are 15% multiracial, 8% Native American, and 4% Hispanic. The chance that two students picked at random at Sterling Elementary belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 43%.
The count of teachers at Sterling Elementary is 10.2 full-time equivalents, for a ratio of 11.2:1. The average ratio among elementary schools in Alaska is 15.3:1, higher than at this school. Around 39% of the school's students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
On BeatsExpectations, Sterling Elementary is 2.4 points below its prediction, a result in the middle 80% of Alaska schools.
County data help place the school in context: in Kenai Peninsula Borough, 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. Sterling Elementary is among the 42 public schools in Kenai Peninsula Borough.
The shortest distance from Sterling Elementary to another public school is about 9.8 miles, to Connections. The ten-mile area around Sterling Elementary holds 3 other public schools. The school's 37.6% average proficiency ranks 4th among 7 nearby schools.
NCES lists the school's locale as Rural: Distant. That means it sits in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
The student count in 2024-25 was 114, 17% below the 137 of 2020-21.
The allk12 site hosts a discussion page for Sterling Elementary covering things like enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
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 Sterling Elementary schools
8 other US public schools in 9 states are named Sterling Elementary. Sterling Elementary is the 8th largest of the 9.
- Sterling ElementaryPineville, NC · 786 students
- Sterling Elementary SchoolBrunswick, GA · 767 students
- Sterling ElementarySterling, VA · 430 students
- STERLING ELEM.WARRENSBURG, MO · 399 students
- Sterling Elementary SchoolSterling, OK · 213 students
Nearby schools
- Connections9.8 mi · 1,188
- Soldotna Elementary9.8 mi · 266
- Soldotna Montessori Charter School9.8 mi · 164
- Soldotna High School10.6 mi · 695
- Redoubt Elementary10.9 mi · 321
- Skyview Middle School11.7 mi · 355
Frequently asked questions
About Sterling ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Sterling Elementary?
Sterling Elementary enrolls approximately 114 students in grades PK-06.
What age range does Sterling Elementary serve?
Sterling Elementary serves students from grade PK through grade 06.
How many students per teacher at Sterling Elementary?
Approximately 11.2:1 students per teacher at Sterling Elementary.
How diverse is Sterling Elementary?
Sterling Elementary reports a student body of 74% White, 4% Hispanic, 15% Two or more.
Is Sterling Elementary public or private?
Sterling Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Kenai Peninsula Borough School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.