Lorenzo R Smith Elem School

Lorenzo R Smith Elem School operates as a close-knit primary school in Pembroke Township, Illinois, one of the schools within Pembroke CCSD 259. Current enrollment sits at 193 students spanning grades pre-K through 8. That puts it 49% leaner than the typical public school in Illinois, which averages around 381 students.

Lorenzo R Smith Elem School sits inside Pembroke CCSD 259, the local public-school operator responsible for the campus.

On the student-mix side, Lorenzo R Smith Elem School records that the most-represented group is Black (46%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. The remainder comes out to 39% Hispanic, 8% White, 7% multiracial. That is visibly more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 14%.

On the income-and-resources front, The school employs 15 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 12.9:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.9:1, putting Lorenzo R Smith Elem School tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 92% of students at Lorenzo R Smith Elem School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, Kankakee County runs at roughly 61%, so the school's eligibility rate is higher than the surrounding baseline.

With demographic context factored in, Lorenzo R Smith Elem School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 18.6%; this one delivers 19.8%.

Across the wider county, ACS estimates for Kankakee County put the typical household earns roughly $71,281 per year, about 21% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 9%. Lorenzo R Smith Elem School is one of 44 public schools in Kankakee County (combined enrollment of about 16,499 students).

Nearest neighbor: St Anne Elem School, around 6.9 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a ten-mile radius, suggesting a relatively low-density school footprint. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Lorenzo R Smith Elem School at 5th of 5; the average score across the group is 32.2%.

Geographically, the school is in a countryside area.

Five-year trend. Lorenzo R Smith Elem School's enrollment has remained close to its prior level since 2018, when it stood at 189 (now 193). Over the same period, the Black share declined from 80% to 46%. Class-load math has loosened: from 11.8:1 in 2018 to 12.9:1 in 2025.

On this page, posts here usually surface around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.