HOLMES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

HOLMES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is a modestly sized primary school in TONAWANDA, New York, part of KENMORE-TONAWANDA UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT. The school instructs 274 students in grades K through 4. That puts it 38% below the typical public school in New York, which averages around 443 students.

KENMORE-TONAWANDA UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT comprises 10 schools with combined enrollment of 6,302 students; HOLMES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is among them.

For racial and ethnic makeup, HOLMES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL lists that the largest single group is White at 42%, but no single group is in the majority. The remainder breaks down as 19% Black, 17% Hispanic, 11% multiracial, 9% Asian. The wider county runs roughly 74% White, putting the school's mix meaningfully less White than the area baseline.

On the resource side, On paper, HOLMES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL has 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 8.2:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 12.8:1 average. Around 76% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is north of Erie County's rate of about 51%.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, HOLMES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is in the bottom 10% of New York public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 47.1%; HOLMES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL posts 25.8%, -21.3 points below that line.

Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Erie County) records that median household earnings sit near $72,839, roughly 38% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Erie County runs 226 public schools (combined enrollment of about 122,519 students), of which HOLMES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one.

Nearest neighbor: CHARTER SCHOOL FOR APPLIED TECHNOLOGIES, around 0.6 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), HOLMES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ranks 6th on composite proficiency, beneath the local average of 38.1%.

Geographically, the school is in a suburban area.

Over the past 7-year window. HOLMES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL's enrollment has contracted 9% since 2018, when it stood at 301 (now 274). The White share of enrollment declined from 54% to 42% over that span. Class-load math has tightened: from 9.4:1 in 2018 to 8.2:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.