Enrollment
377
Elementary
DISTRICT 347 · STATE 443
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·EPHRATA AREA SD·NCES 420927002568
Clay El Sch
250 Clay School Rd, Ephrata, PA 17522 · (717) 721-1100 · Lancaster County
GRADES KG–04ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL377 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.1:1
29 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.6:1 · STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
49%
184 students
DISTRICT 56% · STATE 75%
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
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. 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
Based on grade levels within Ephrata Area SD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
PSSA + Keystone 2024-25 . % Proficient or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
60.5%
PA avg 51.1% . -5.9pp since 2023
Math
57.1%
PA avg 43.0% . -0.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the PSSA + Keystone, Pennsylvania's statewide test, about 61 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 57 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Pennsylvania schools, those numbers are about 51 and 43. Reading and writing scores are down about 6 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
Source: PSSA + Keystone. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
64.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
56.7%
based on PA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+7.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 65% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 57% typical for Pennsylvania schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Pennsylvania's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
377
-88 (-19%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
13.1:1
was 15.7:1
% White
75%
was 81%
% Hispanic
11%
was 8%
% Black
3%
was 3%
% Asian
3%
was 3%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About Clay El Sch
Clay El Sch operates as a mid-sized elementary school in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, run under Ephrata Area SD. Current enrollment sits at 377 students spanning grades K through 4.
Ephrata Area SD comprises 7 schools with combined enrollment of 3,904 students; Clay El Sch is among them.
In terms of who attends, Clay El Sch reports that 75% of the student body identifies as White. The remainder looks like 11% Hispanic, 7% multiracial, 3% Black, 3% Asian.
On the resource side, Staff filings list 29 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 13.1:1 students per teacher. That tracks the state average closely. Roughly 49% of students at Clay El Sch qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.
Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Clay El Sch sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 56.7%; this one delivers 64.6%.
In the surrounding community, the surrounding county (Lancaster County) logs that the typical household earns roughly $86,959 per year, 32% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 5%. Across Lancaster County's 114 public schools (combined enrollment of about 62,719 students), Clay El Sch is one campus in the mix.
Nearest neighbor: Ephrata MS, around 3.4 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Clay El Sch. On composite proficiency, Clay El Sch comes 4th of 9 in the immediate cluster, above the nearby-schools average of 59.8%.
The campus sits in a rural setting.
Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Clay El Sch has ticked down 19%, going from 465 students in 2018 to 377 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share fell from 81% to 75%. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 15.7:1 in 2018 to 13.1:1 today.
On allk12, recent activity here tends to focus on open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Lancaster County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
557,931
Census ACS
Median income
$86,959
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
32%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
114
62,719 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Ephrata Area SD
- Ephrata SHSHigh · 1,347 students
- Ephrata MSMiddle · 601 students
- Ephrata Intermediate SchMiddle · 568 students
- Highland El SchElementary · 438 students
- Fulton El SchElementary · 297 students
- Akron El SchElementary · 276 students
Other schools in Ephrata
- Ephrata SHSHigh · 1,347 students
- Ephrata MSMiddle · 601 students
- Ephrata Intermediate SchMiddle · 568 students
- Highland El SchElementary · 438 students
- Fulton El SchElementary · 297 students
- Lancaster County Career and Technology Center - BrownstownHigh · 25 students
Nearby schools
- Ephrata MS3.4 mi · 601
- Ephrata Intermediate Sch3.4 mi · 568
- John Beck El Sch3.6 mi · 432
- Ephrata SHS3.7 mi · 1,347
- Highland El Sch4.1 mi · 438
- Fulton El Sch4.4 mi · 297
Frequently asked questions
About Clay El SchHow many students attend Clay El Sch?
Clay El Sch enrolls approximately 377 students in grades KG-04.
What age range does Clay El Sch serve?
Clay El Sch serves students from grade KG through grade 04.
How many students per teacher at Clay El Sch?
Approximately 13.1:1 students per teacher at Clay El Sch.
How diverse is Clay El Sch?
Clay El Sch reports a student body of 75% White, 11% Hispanic, 3% Black, 3% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Who oversees Clay El Sch?
Clay El Sch is overseen by Ephrata Area SD in Lancaster County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.