Paul A. Smith School

Paul A. Smith School, a mid-tier primary school in Franklin, New Hampshire, run under Franklin School District, educates 261 students, covering grades pre-K through 3.

Across the 3 schools in Franklin School District (842 students total), Paul A. Smith School accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, Paul A. Smith School reports that the student body is overwhelmingly White (90%); the rest consists of 6% Hispanic, 4% multiracial. That composition is broadly in line with Merrimack County as a whole.

In terms of school funding signals, The school employs 33 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 7.9:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 11.0:1 average. Roughly 56% of students at Paul A. Smith School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Merrimack County runs at roughly 25%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat above the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Paul A. Smith School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 27.3%; this one delivers 33.5%.

In the surrounding community, community-level numbers for Merrimack County indicate median household income runs about $97,004, 39% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 4%. Paul A. Smith School is one of 61 public schools in Merrimack County (combined enrollment of about 17,429 students).

The closest other public school is Franklin High School, roughly 0.9 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Paul A. Smith School. On composite proficiency, Paul A. Smith School comes 3rd of 7 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 31.2%.

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

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Paul A. Smith School has declined 13%, going from 300 students in 2018 to 261 in 2025. Class-load math has pulled in: from 13.0:1 in 2018 to 7.9:1 in 2025.

On the community side, recent activity here tends to focus on classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. The community welcomes input from current and former families.