JOE D. ESTHER ELEM.

Located at 1200 CLARK ST, in LEBANON, Missouri, JOE D. ESTHER ELEM. is a heavily attended elementary campus that works with 609 students (grades K through 1), one of the schools within LEBANON R-III. Compared to the state average of about 315 students per school, that is 93% bigger than typical.

Across the 6 schools in LEBANON R-III (4,410 students total), JOE D. ESTHER ELEM. accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On the student-mix side, JOE D. ESTHER ELEM. logs that the student body is overwhelmingly White (88%). The remainder breaks down as 7% Hispanic, 4% multiracial. Compared to Laclede County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 53 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 11.5:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 12.4:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 72% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

In the area at large, community-level numbers for Laclede County indicate the typical household earns roughly $53,282 per year, 16% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. Across Laclede County's 12 public schools (combined enrollment of about 5,763 students), JOE D. ESTHER ELEM. is one campus in the mix.

LEBANON SR. HIGH is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.8 miles from this campus. 6 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

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

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at JOE D. ESTHER ELEM. has shrank 27%, going from 835 students in 2018 to 609 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment climbed from 3% to 7% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 14.6:1 in 2018 to 11.5:1 today.

On the community side, posts here usually surface around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.