Kennedy Elementary - 08

Located at 2306 Brookstone Loop, in Pierre, South Dakota, Kennedy Elementary - 08 is a large elementary school that teaches 413 students (grades K through 5), part of Pierre School District 32-2. By comparison, South Dakota's public schools average about 204 students each, so Kennedy Elementary - 08 sits 102% bigger than that benchmark.

Within Pierre School District 32-2, which oversees 5 schools and 2,749 students, Kennedy Elementary - 08 is one campus in the system.

On demographics, Kennedy Elementary - 08 logs that the largest single group is White, at 62% of enrollment. Beyond that, the school reports 20% Native American, 13% multiracial, 5% Hispanic. That is noticeably less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 81%.

On the income-and-resources front, On paper, Kennedy Elementary - 08 has 26 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 15.9:1. That tracks the state average closely. About 41% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Kennedy Elementary - 08 performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 46.1%, the actual is 54.3%, a residual of +8.2 points.

In the area at large, community-level numbers for Hughes County indicate median household income runs about $81,395, roughly 39% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 5%. Kennedy Elementary - 08 is one of 7 public schools in Hughes County (combined enrollment of about 2,919 students).

Nearest neighbor: Buchanan Elementary - 03, around 1.7 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Kennedy Elementary - 08 at 2nd of 6; the average score across the group is 51.4%.

Geographically, the school is in a low-density area.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count fell 7%: 445 students in 2018 compared to 413 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 17.1:1 in 2018 to 15.9:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.