Cottonwood Elem

Cottonwood Elem is one of the mid-sized K-5 schools in Paola, Kansas, run under Paola, with 379 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 2. Enrollment runs roughly 21% bigger than the state mean of about 313.

Cottonwood Elem is one of 4 schools operated by Paola, a district that enrolls 1,732 students overall.

Looking at the student body, Cottonwood Elem lists that the student body is overwhelmingly White (86%). The remainder comes out to 7% Hispanic, 5% multiracial.

In terms of school funding signals, The school currently runs with 28 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 13.7:1. That tracks the state average closely. An estimated 41% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

In the broader community, community-level numbers for Miami County indicate the typical household earns roughly $89,000 per year, roughly 31% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 6%. In all, Miami County runs 17 public schools (combined enrollment of about 6,529 students), of which Cottonwood Elem is one.

Nearest neighbor: Sunflower Elem, around 0.2 miles off. Within five miles, there are 3 other public schools.

The school occupies a town-based site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count shrank 21%: 482 students in 2018 compared to 379 in 2025. Class-load math has pulled in: from 15.8:1 in 2018 to 13.7:1 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.