Barack Obama Elementary

As a modestly sized primary school in Richmond, Virginia, Barack Obama Elementary instructs 274 students from grades pre-K through 5, operated by Richmond City Public Schools. Enrollment runs roughly 45% below the state mean of about 499.

Richmond City Public Schools comprises 47 schools with combined enrollment of 20,962 students; Barack Obama Elementary is among them.

On the student-mix side, Barack Obama Elementary reports that the largest single group is Black, at 73% of enrollment. The remainder reads as 18% White, 5% multiracial, 3% Hispanic. That is considerably more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 41%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school employs 23 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 12.1:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.8:1 average. About 100% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Barack Obama Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 60.8%; this one delivers 54.3%.

Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Richmond city) reports that median household income runs about $64,587, 46% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 12%. Across Richmond city's 61 public schools (combined enrollment of about 20,253 students), Barack Obama Elementary is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Richmond Community High, roughly 0.4 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Barack Obama Elementary at 4th of 7; the average score across the group is 51.2%.

Barack Obama Elementary operates from a city-core location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 15%: 324 students in 2018 compared to 274 in 2025. The Black share of enrollment fell from 92% to 73% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 14.1:1 in 2018 to 12.1:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, members of the Barack Obama Elementary community share and discuss fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.