Smith-Wade-El El Sch

Smith-Wade-El El Sch operates as a medium-sized elementary-level community in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, overseen by Lancaster SD. Current enrollment sits at 397 students spanning grades pre-K through 5.

Within Lancaster SD, which oversees 19 schools and 9,901 students, Smith-Wade-El El Sch is one campus in the system.

Looking at the student body, Smith-Wade-El El Sch shows that 46% of students identify as Hispanic, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Beyond that, the school logs 26% White, 15% Black, 10% multiracial, 4% Asian. By comparison, Lancaster County as a whole is about 12% Hispanic, so the school skews meaningfully more Hispanic than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school currently runs with 33 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 12.0:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.1:1 average. Around 103% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is noticeably above Lancaster County's rate of about 55%.

After controlling for student poverty, Smith-Wade-El El Sch tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 33.4% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 41.2%.

Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Lancaster County) logs that median household earnings sit near $86,959, roughly 32% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Lancaster County runs 114 public schools (combined enrollment of about 62,719 students), of which Smith-Wade-El El Sch is one.

Wheatland MS is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.1 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Smith-Wade-El El Sch comes 2nd of 8 in the immediate cluster, above the nearby-schools average of 33.7%.

The school occupies a suburban site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked up 7%: 371 students in 2018 compared to 397 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment edged up from 41% to 46% over that span. Class-load math has tightened: from 15.8:1 in 2018 to 12.0:1 in 2025.

On the community side, members of the Smith-Wade-El El Sch community share and discuss enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.