EMERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

EMERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is an average-sized elementary school in KEARNEY, Nebraska, overseen by KEARNEY PUBLIC SCHOOLS. The school caters to 235 students in grades pre-K through 5.

Within KEARNEY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, which oversees 15 schools and 6,066 students, EMERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, EMERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL reports that White students make up the majority at 65%; the rest reads as 30% Hispanic, 3% multiracial, 2% Black. That is noticeably less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 87%.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 18 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 13.1:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 21.0:1 average. An estimated 54% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Buffalo County runs at roughly 33%, so the school's eligibility rate is above the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), EMERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 57.3% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 59.7%.

Across the wider county, community-level numbers for Buffalo County indicate median household income runs about $75,911, about 34% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 5%. Across Buffalo County's 28 public schools (combined enrollment of about 8,449 students), EMERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one campus in the mix.

NORTHEAST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.6 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts EMERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL at 6th of 7; the average score across the group is 63.4%.

The campus sits in a small-town setting.

Looking at the recent track record. EMERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL's enrollment has edged down 5% since 2018, when it stood at 248 (now 235). The Hispanic share of enrollment increased from 17% to 30% over that span.

On the community side, members of the EMERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL community share and discuss open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.