Smith River Elementary

Located at 134 First St., in Smith River, California, Smith River Elementary is a modestly sized elementary-level community that educates 258 students (grades K through 8), one of the schools within Del Norte County Unified. Enrollment runs roughly 45% smaller than the state mean of about 465.

Smith River Elementary is one of 11 schools operated by Del Norte County Unified, a district that instructs 3,378 students overall.

Looking at the student body, Smith River Elementary lists that the most-represented group is Hispanic (45%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. The remainder consists of 31% White, 17% Native American, 6% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 20% Hispanic, putting the school's mix considerably more Hispanic than the area baseline.

Looking at school resources, On paper, Smith River Elementary has 11 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 24.4:1. The state averages around 22.3:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Roughly 68% of students at Smith River Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Smith River Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 39.1%, the actual is 29.2%, a residual of -9.9 points.

Zooming out to the county, community-level numbers for Del Norte County indicate the typical household earns roughly $67,058 per year, about 21% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Del Norte County runs 16 public schools (combined enrollment of about 4,003 students), of which Smith River Elementary is one.

The closest other public school is Redwood Elementary, roughly 4.0 miles away. 2 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a ten-mile radius, suggesting a relatively low-density school footprint. On composite proficiency, Smith River Elementary comes 3rd of 7 in the immediate cluster, ahead of the nearby-schools average of 27.4%.

The campus sits in a low-density setting.

Trend over the last 7 years. Smith River Elementary's enrollment has climbed 17% since 2018, when it stood at 220 (now 258). Over the same period, the White share contracted from 36% to 31%. The student-to-teacher ratio rose from 20.8:1 in 2018 to 24.4:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, the feed for Smith River Elementary typically covers sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.