Y E Smith Elementary

Y E Smith Elementary is one of the tight-knit elementary schools in Durham, North Carolina, overseen by Durham Public Schools, with 358 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 5. Enrollment runs roughly 23% below the state mean of about 467.

Within Durham Public Schools, which oversees 55 schools and 31,797 students, Y E Smith Elementary is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, Y E Smith Elementary lists that the largest single group is Hispanic at 51%, but no single group is in the majority. Other groups include 41% Black, 4% multiracial, 3% White. By comparison, Durham County as a whole is about 16% Hispanic, so the school skews noticeably more Hispanic than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 23 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 15.7:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 14.9:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Around 99% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

After controlling for student poverty, On a poverty-adjusted basis, Y E Smith Elementary sits in the bottom 10% statewide. Predicted proficiency from the FRL regression is roughly 48.6%; actual is 22.0%, a gap of -26.6 points.

In the area at large, community-level numbers for Durham County indicate the typical household earns roughly $82,316 per year, 55% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Y E Smith Elementary is one of 74 public schools in Durham County (combined enrollment of about 46,109 students).

The closest other public school is Maureen Joy Charter School, roughly 0.3 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Y E Smith Elementary comes 4th of 4 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 47.4%.

Geographically, the school is in a metropolitan area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Y E Smith Elementary has declined 7%, going from 384 students in 2018 to 358 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio loosened from 13.0:1 in 2018 to 15.7:1 today.

On allk12, recent activity here tends to focus on pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.