Enrollment
242
Elementary
DISTRICT 217 · STATE 272
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PENDER PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 317539001490
PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
609 WHITNEY ST, PENDER, NE 68047 · (402) 385-3244 · Thurston County
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL242 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 98% of Nebraska public elementary schools
- A+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Nebraska public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
11.4:1
21 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.4:1 · STATE 21.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
45%
110 students
DISTRICT 42% · 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 | 30 | 12% |
| Kindergarten | 34 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 30 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 26 | 11% |
| Grade 3 | 23 | 10% |
| Grade 4 | 24 | 10% |
| Grade 5 | 39 | 16% |
| Grade 6 | 36 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (34) is 6% smaller than its 6th grade class (36).
Student demographics
33%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 29% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL→PENDER HIGH SCHOOL
Based on grade levels within PENDER PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
NSCAS 2024-25 . % On Track + AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
73.7%
NE avg 57.6%
Math
78.5%
NE avg 60.6%
What this means: On the NSCAS, Nebraska's statewide test, about 74 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 79 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of NE schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
77.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
60.4%
based on NE schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+16.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 77% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 60% typical for Nebraska schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 17 points, placing it in Nebraska's top 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 PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL's state test result (77.3% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL this school | 242 | 45.5% | 77.3% |
| WISNER-PILGER ELEM SCHOOL WISNER | 306 | 43.5% | 69.5% |
| WOODLAND PARK ELEMENTARY SCH NORFOLK | 182 | 46.7% | 58.8% |
| VALENTINE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL VALENTINE | 285 | 45.6% | 73.0% |
| HOMER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HOMER | 245 | 46.5% | 61.2% |
| RED CLOUD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL RED CLOUD | 187 | 49.2% | N/A |
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 PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Nebraska |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 77.3% | #21 of 311 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 78.5% | #36 of 398 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 73.7% | #47 of 438 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 242 | #338 of 587 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.4:1 | #38 of 379 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 33.1% | #274 of 379 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 45.5% | #116 of 359 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +1.3% | #124 of 135 |
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
242
-18 (-7%) vs 2020
+44% since 1990-91, when it was 168
Student : Teacher
11.4:1
was 13.0:1
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 | 242 | 21.2 | 11.4:1 | 45% (110) |
| 2023-24 | 239 | 20.4 | 11.7:1 | 47% (113) |
| 2022-23 | 261 | 20.1 | 13.0:1 | 43% (113) |
| 2020-21 | 260 | 20 | 13.0:1 | 46% (119) |
| 2017-18 | 239 | 17.7 | 13.5:1 | 41% (98) |
| 2015-16 | 240 | 15 | 16.0:1 | 28% (66) |
| 2010-11 | 185 | 12 | 15.4:1 | 39% (72) |
| 2000-01 | 176 | 14 | 12.6:1 | 25% (44) |
| 1990-91 | 168 | 13 | 12.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
Since 2017-18: students up 1% (239 to 242); teachers up 20% (17.7 to 21.2).
About PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is a medium-sized elementary school in PENDER, Nebraska, administered by PENDER PUBLIC SCHOOLS. The school enrolls 242 students, from pre-K through 6.
PENDER PUBLIC SCHOOLS has 2 schools and 433 students, and PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one of those schools.
PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL enrolls a student body that is 81% White. Other reported shares: 14% Hispanic and 4% multiracial. That compares with about 37% White among all Thurston County residents. By the diversity index, PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL comes in at 33%.
Federal data list 21.2 full-time-equivalent teachers at PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL in 2024-25, for a ratio of 11.4:1. The average ratio among elementary schools in Nebraska is 21.0:1, higher than at this school. The school's rate of free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 45%. That is close to the 45% average for public schools in Thurston County.
allk12 grades PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL an A+. The grade compares the school only with Nebraska public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
After accounting for student poverty, PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is in the top 10% of Nebraska schools. Its average proficiency rate on state tests of 77.3% is 16.9 points above the 60.4% predicted for its lunch-eligibility share.
Census estimates describe Thurston County this way: median household income is about $69,177, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 22%, and roughly 10% of residents are in poverty. The public schools of Thurston County number 11 and enroll about 2,146.
PENDER HIGH SCHOOL is the public school closest to PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, less than a tenth of a mile away. The average proficiency across nearby scored schools is 66.3%; PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL's is 77.3%, ranking 2nd of 4.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as Rural: Distant, meaning it is in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
A comparison of 2020-21 and 2024-25 shows enrollment down 7%, from 260 to 242. The school's ratio fell from 13.0:1 to 11.4:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Posts about school safety, transportation, and start times are welcome on this page. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Thurston County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
6,627
Census ACS
Median income
$69,177
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
22%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
11
2,146 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Nearby schools
- PENDER HIGH SCHOOL0.0 mi · 191
- BANCROFT-ROSALIE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL10.0 mi · 170
- BANCROFT-ROSALIE JR/SR HIGH SCHOOL10.0 mi · 114
- EMERSON-HUBBARD MIDDLE SCHOOL11.1 mi · 40
- EMERSON-HUBBARD HIGH SCHOOL11.1 mi · 71
- WALTHILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL11.4 mi · 159
Frequently asked questions
About PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOLWhat is the total enrollment at PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL enrolls approximately 242 students in grades PK-06.
Is PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL an elementary, middle, or high school?
PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is an elementary school covering grades PK-06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
The student-to-teacher ratio at PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is approximately 11.4:1 (21 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?
At PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, the student body is approximately 81% White, 14% Hispanic, 0% Black, 0% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Is PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL public or private?
PENDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is a public K-12 school, overseen by PENDER PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.