Bickerdyke Elem

Located at 348 N Maple St, in Russell, Kansas, Bickerdyke Elem is an intimate elementary campus that serves 261 students (grades 2 through 6), run under Russell County.

Across the 4 schools in Russell County (950 students total), Bickerdyke Elem accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

Looking at the student body, Bickerdyke Elem reports that nearly all students (89%) are White. Other groups include 5% multiracial, 4% Hispanic. Compared to Russell County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 22 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 11.6:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 13.2:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. An estimated 54% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Bickerdyke Elem sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 36.3%; this one delivers 35.8%.

Around the school, the surrounding county (Russell County) shows that median household earnings sit near $62,392, roughly 20% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Bickerdyke Elem is one of 5 public schools in Russell County (combined enrollment of about 1,075 students).

Ruppenthal Middle is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.2 miles from this campus. 3 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Bickerdyke Elem comes 4th of 6 in the immediate cluster, below the nearby-schools average of 37.1%.

Geographically, the school is in a town-center area.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Bickerdyke Elem has ticked down 3%, going from 270 students in 2018 to 261 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 84% to 89% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 13.4:1 in 2018 to 11.6:1 today.

Inside the community feed, members of the Bickerdyke Elem community share and discuss science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.