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Best kept secret on campus at JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
565
Elementary
DISTRICT 550 · STATE 604
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PUTNAM·NCES 120162001805
JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
1400 OLD JACKSONVILLE RD, PALATKA, FL 32177 · (386) 329-0575 · Putnam County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL565 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
18.8:1
30 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.5:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
56%
319 students
DISTRICT 52% · STATE 50%
Community
3
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
FAST / B.E.S.T. 2024-25 . % at Level 3 or AboveEnglish Language Arts
49.4%
FL avg 56.7% . +6.8pp since 2023
Math
43.6%
FL avg 58.9% . +8.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the FAST / B.E.S.T., Florida's statewide test, about 49 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 44 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Florida schools, those numbers are about 57 and 59. Reading and writing scores are up about 7 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 8 points.
Source: FAST / B.E.S.T.. 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
44.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
52.9%
based on FL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-8.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 45% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 53% typical for Florida 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 Florida'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 →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
565
-103 (-15%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
18.8:1
was 17.1:1
% White
52%
was 66%
% Hispanic
6%
was 4%
% Black
37%
was 26%
% Asian
0%
was 0%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one of the middle-of-the-pack elementary schools in PALATKA, Florida, operated by PUTNAM, with 565 students on its rolls from grades K through 6.
PUTNAM comprises 18 schools with combined enrollment of 10,082 students; JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is among them.
In terms of who attends, JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL shows that the largest single group is White at 52%, but no single group is in the majority; the rest breaks down as 37% Black, 6% Hispanic, 5% multiracial. That is meaningfully less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 71%.
In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 30 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 18.8:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 17.5:1, putting JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL higher than the state norm the norm. An estimated 56% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.
Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 52.9%, the actual is 44.6%, a residual of -8.3 points.
Around the school, Putnam County reports that median household earnings sit near $47,934, about 15% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 17%. Across Putnam County's 19 public schools (combined enrollment of about 10,082 students), JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one campus in the mix.
PUTNAM ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.5 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL comes 3rd of 5 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 48.4%.
The campus sits in a town-based setting.
Trend over the last 7 years. JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL's enrollment has decreased 15% since 2018, when it stood at 668 (now 565). Over the same period, the White share decreased from 66% to 52%. Class-load math has rose: from 17.1:1 in 2018 to 18.8:1 in 2025.
On the community side, the feed for JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL typically covers classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.
Putnam County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
75,164
Census ACS
Median income
$47,934
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
15%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
17%
Below federal line
Schools in county
19
10,082 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in PUTNAM
- PALATKA JR - SR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,568 students
- MIDDLETON-BURNEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 1,056 students
- INTERLACHEN JR-SR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 999 students
- CRESCENT CITY JR-SR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 945 students
- ROBERT H. JENKINS JR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 844 students
- KELLEY SMITH ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 776 students
Other schools in PALATKA
- PALATKA JR - SR HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,568 students
- KELLEY SMITH ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 776 students
- WILLIAM D. MOSELEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 558 students
- MELLON LEARNING CENTERCombined · 297 students
- THE CHILDREN'S READING CENTERElementary · 275 students
- PUTNAM ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCESMiddle · 192 students
Nearby schools
- PUTNAM ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES1.5 mi · 192
- MELLON LEARNING CENTER1.6 mi · 297
- PALATKA JR - SR HIGH SCHOOL1.7 mi · 1,568
- TEEN PARENT PK CHILD CARE PROGRAM1.8 mi · 2
- PUTNAM VIRTUAL INSTRUCTION PROGRAM (DISTRICT PROVIDED)1.8 mi · 26
- PUTNAM VIRTUAL FRANCHISE1.8 mi · 22
Frequently asked questions
About JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOLHow many students attend JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL enrolls approximately 565 students in grades KG-06.
What grades does JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL serve?
JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL serves grades KG-06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
The student-to-teacher ratio at JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is approximately 18.8:1 (30 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
At JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, the student body is approximately 52% White, 6% Hispanic, 37% Black, 5% Two or more.
What district is JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL in?
JAMES A. LONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is part of PUTNAM.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.