Katharine Lee Bates

Katharine Lee Bates is a primary school of small scale in Wellesley, Massachusetts, operated by Wellesley, enrolling 286 students in grades K through 5. By comparison, Massachusetts's public schools average about 381 students each, so Katharine Lee Bates sits 25% below that benchmark.

Wellesley comprises 10 schools with combined enrollment of 4,127 students; Katharine Lee Bates is among them.

On demographics, Katharine Lee Bates records that 76% of the student body identifies as White. Beyond that, the school reports 8% multiracial, 7% Hispanic, 6% Asian, 2% Black.

On the income-and-resources front, Katharine Lee Bates records 22 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 12.9:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 12.2:1, putting Katharine Lee Bates higher than the state norm the norm.

In the area at large, census data for Norfolk County shows median household income runs about $130,739, roughly 59% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 4%. In all, Norfolk County runs 198 public schools (combined enrollment of about 101,300 students), of which Katharine Lee Bates is one.

The closest other public school is Ernest F Upham, roughly 0.4 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

Katharine Lee Bates operates from a commuter-belt location.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count shrank 23%: 372 students in 2018 compared to 286 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 3% to 7% across the same window. Class-load math has tightened: from 17.7:1 in 2018 to 12.9:1 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, members of the Katharine Lee Bates community share and discuss fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.