VERNE W CRITZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

VERNE W CRITZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is a close-knit elementary campus in EAST PATCHOGUE, New York, run under SOUTH COUNTRY CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT. The school instructs 269 students in grades K through 3. Compared to the state average of about 443 students per school, that is 39% leaner than typical.

SOUTH COUNTRY CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT runs 6 schools in total, collectively educating 3,798 students. VERNE W CRITZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one of those campuses.

On demographics, VERNE W CRITZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL shows that the most-represented group is Hispanic (54%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Beyond that, the school shows 32% White, 11% Black, 2% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 23% Hispanic, putting the school's mix meaningfully more Hispanic than the area baseline.

On the resource side, The school currently runs with 29 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 9.1:1. The state averages around 12.8:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 42% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, VERNE W CRITZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is in the bottom 10% of New York public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 59.7%; VERNE W CRITZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL posts 39.0%, -20.7 points below that line.

In the area at large, Suffolk County reports that the typical household earns roughly $130,686 per year, about 40% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 4%. Across Suffolk County's 343 public schools (combined enrollment of about 222,439 students), VERNE W CRITZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: KREAMER STREET ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, around 1.0 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), VERNE W CRITZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 36.0%.

The school occupies an outer-ring site.

Trend over the last 7 years. VERNE W CRITZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL's enrollment has ticked down 25% since 2018, when it stood at 358 (now 269). Hispanic enrollment moved from 46% to 54% across the same window. Class-load math has pulled in: from 12.3:1 in 2018 to 9.1:1 in 2025.

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