Helen Thompson School

Set in West Gardiner, Maine, Helen Thompson School is a medium-sized K-5 school, one of the schools within RSU 11/MSAD 11. It educates 245 students across grades pre-K through 5.

RSU 11/MSAD 11 runs 6 schools in total, collectively educating 1,846 students. Helen Thompson School is one of those campuses.

Looking at the student body, Helen Thompson School records that the student body is overwhelmingly White (94%); the rest reads as 2% multiracial. That composition is broadly in line with Kennebec County as a whole.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 19 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 12.7:1 students per teacher. That figure is higher than the state norm's 10.5:1 average. An estimated 33% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is below Kennebec County's rate of about 45%.

Around the school, ACS estimates for Kennebec County put the typical household earns roughly $69,077 per year, 32% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. In all, Kennebec County runs 53 public schools (combined enrollment of about 15,649 students), of which Helen Thompson School is one.

The closest other public school is Gardiner Regional Middle School, roughly 3.7 miles away. 4 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

Geographically, the school is in a low-density area.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Helen Thompson School has decreased 13%, going from 281 students in 2018 to 245 in 2025. Class-load math has pulled in: from 14.2:1 in 2018 to 12.7:1 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.