Enrollment
284
Elementary
DISTRICT 292 · STATE 272
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·KEARNEY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 317239001102
CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
300 W 24TH ST, KEARNEY, NE 68845 · (308) 698-8040 · Buffalo County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL284 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.5:1
20 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.8:1 · STATE 21.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
52%
148 students
DISTRICT 32% · STATE 37%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 21 | 7% |
| Kindergarten | 38 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 42 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 42 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 48 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 44 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 49 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (38) is 22% smaller than its 5th grade class (49).
Student demographics
59%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 39% · STATE 57% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
NSCAS 2024-25 . % On Track + AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
58.1%
NE avg 57.6%
Math
67.0%
NE avg 60.6%
What this means: On the NSCAS, Nebraska's statewide test, about 58 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 67 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Nebraska schools, those numbers are about 58 and 61.
Source: NSCAS. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
62.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
58.1%
based on NE schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+3.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 62% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 58% typical for Nebraska schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Nebraska's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL's state test result (62.0% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL this school | 284 | 52.1% | 62.0% |
| LOST CREEK ELEMENTARY SCH COLUMBUS | 318 | 52.2% | 42.9% |
| LONGFELLOW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HASTINGS | 305 | 50.5% | 49.1% |
| LINCOLN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL GERING | 319 | 56.7% | 60.3% |
| BRYANT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL KEARNEY | 248 | 58.1% | 63.6% |
| EMERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL KEARNEY | 235 | 54.5% | 59.7% |
Matched among Nebraska elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Nebraska | In Buffalo County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 62.0% | #199 of 311 | #11 of 15 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 67.0% | #186 of 398 | #10 of 15 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 58.1% | #246 of 438 | #12 of 15 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 284 | #274 of 587 | #6 of 17 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.5:1 | #197 of 379 | #8 of 15 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 59.2% | #91 of 379 | #1 of 15 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 52.1% | #77 of 359 | #3 of 17 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +5.6% | #89 of 135 | #2 of 6 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
284
+11 (+4%) vs 2020
-32% since 1990-91, when it was 418
Student : Teacher
14.5:1
was 14.4:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 284 | 19.6 | 14.5:1 | 52% (148) |
| 2023-24 | 271 | 19.5 | 13.9:1 | 74% (200) |
| 2022-23 | 254 | 18.9 | 13.5:1 | 68% (172) |
| 2020-21 | 273 | 19 | 14.4:1 | 73% (200) |
| 2017-18 | 269 | 19.5 | 13.8:1 | 65% (176) |
| 2015-16 | 256 | 19 | 13.5:1 | 59% (151) |
| 2010-11 | 338 | 23 | 14.7:1 | 58% (196) |
| 2000-01 | 240 | 16 | 15.0:1 | 55% (133) |
| 1990-91 | 418 | 20 | 20.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
Since 2017-18: students up 6% (269 to 284); teachers unchanged (19.5 to 19.6).
About CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
A mid-sized elementary school in KEARNEY, Nebraska, CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is part of KEARNEY PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Its grade span covers pre-K through 5, with 284 students on the rolls.
KEARNEY PUBLIC SCHOOLS counts 15 schools and 6,066 students, including CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
More than half of the students at CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL are White (53%). The rest of enrollment is 35% Hispanic, 4% Black, 4% multiracial, and 2% Asian. Census estimates put the White share of Buffalo County's population at about 87%. The diversity index for CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is 59%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
A staff of 19.6 full-time-equivalent teachers puts the student-to-teacher ratio at 14.5:1. Compared with the 21.0:1 average for elementary schools in Nebraska, this school's ratio is lower. By family income, 52% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Among public schools in Buffalo County, the average eligibility rate is 33%.
Schools in Nebraska with a similar free or reduced-price lunch share are predicted to score about 58.1%. CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL scores 62.0%.
Census data for Buffalo County show the median household earns about $75,911 a year, 34% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of people live in poverty. Counting CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, Buffalo County has 28 public schools.
The closest school to CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, located about 0.5 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. Among its closest neighbors with test data, CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is 4th of 7 on proficiency.
NCES assigns CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL the locale Town: Distant, meaning in a town some distance from an urbanized area.
The school's student count increased 4% between the 2020-21 and 2024-25 school years.
The discussion board for CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is open to topics like athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Buffalo County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
50,579
Census ACS
Median income
$75,911
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
28
8,449 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in KEARNEY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
- KEARNEY HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,663 students
- HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 648 students
- SUNRISE MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 536 students
- MEADOWLARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 417 students
- KENWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 398 students
- NORTHEAST ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 397 students
Other schools in KEARNEY
- KEARNEY HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 1,663 students
- HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 648 students
- SUNRISE MIDDLE SCHOOLMiddle · 536 students
- MEADOWLARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 417 students
- KENWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 398 students
- NORTHEAST ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 397 students
Other Central Elementary schools
151 other US public schools in 35 states are named Central Elementary. CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is the 113th largest of the 152.
- CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLFAIRBURY, NE · 277 students
- CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLBELLEVUE, NE · 187 students
- CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLMC COOK, NE · 181 students
- Central Elementary SchoolCarrollton, GA · 991 students
- CENTRAL ELEM.ST CHARLES, MO · 865 students
Nearby schools
- PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL0.5 mi · 257
- KEARNEY EDUCATION CENTER0.6 mi · 332
- EMERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL0.7 mi · 235
- BRYANT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL0.7 mi · 248
- HORIZON MIDDLE SCHOOL1.0 mi · 648
- HANNY ARRAM CENTER1.1 mi · 2
Frequently asked questions
About CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLHow large is CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL enrolls approximately 284 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL serve?
CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many teachers does CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL have?
CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL employs 20 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.5:1.
What is the student diversity at CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
Student demographics at CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL are roughly 53% White, 35% Hispanic, 4% Black, 2% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Is CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL public or private?
CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is a public K-12 school, overseen by KEARNEY PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.