Southern Elementary School

Southern Elementary School operates as a mid-sized elementary campus in Lexington, Kentucky, run under Fayette County. Current enrollment sits at 476 students spanning grades pre-K through 5.

Fayette County runs 73 schools in total, collectively educating 42,138 students. Southern Elementary School is one of those campuses.

Demographically, Southern Elementary School shows that 33% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Other groups include 29% Black, 20% Hispanic, 12% multiracial, 6% Asian. By comparison, Fayette County as a whole is about 68% White, so the school skews visibly less White than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school currently runs with 39 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 12.1:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 15.4:1, putting Southern Elementary School tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 71% of students at Southern Elementary School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Fayette County runs at roughly 50%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully above the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Southern Elementary School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 38.7%; this one delivers 33.9%.

In the area at large, community-level numbers for Fayette County indicate the typical household earns roughly $69,479 per year, 48% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 9%. Southern Elementary School is one of 81 public schools in Fayette County (combined enrollment of about 42,142 students).

The closest other public school is Southern Middle School, roughly 0.1 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Southern Elementary School comes 7th of 9 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 41.9%.

Geographically, the school is in a metropolitan area.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Southern Elementary School has ticked down 14%, going from 552 students in 2018 to 476 in 2025. The White share of enrollment contracted from 46% to 33% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 14.6:1 in 2018 to 12.1:1 today.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.