J.L. Francis Elementary

Set in Richmond, Virginia, J.L. Francis Elementary is a moderately sized primary school, part of Richmond City Public Schools. It hosts 526 students across grades pre-K through 5.

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

On demographics, J.L. Francis Elementary reports that the most-represented group is Hispanic (55%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Other groups include 36% Black, 6% White, 3% multiracial. By comparison, Richmond city as a whole is about 11% Hispanic, so the school skews meaningfully more Hispanic than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, On paper, J.L. Francis Elementary has 37 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 14.2:1. The state averages about 13.8:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. About 99% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

After controlling for student poverty, J.L. Francis Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 61.1%; this one delivers 50.6%.

In the surrounding community, the surrounding county (Richmond city) logs that the typical household earns roughly $64,587 per year, roughly 46% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 12% of residents live below the federal poverty line. J.L. Francis Elementary is one of 61 public schools in Richmond city (combined enrollment of about 20,253 students).

Nearest neighbor: Broad Rock Elementary, around 0.6 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), J.L. Francis Elementary ranks 1st on composite proficiency, higher than the local average of 41.1%.

Geographically, the school is in a downtown area.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 7%: 563 students in 2018 compared to 526 in 2025. Black enrollment moved from 55% to 36% across the same window. Class-load math has tightened: from 18.2:1 in 2018 to 14.2:1 in 2025.

On this page, the feed for J.L. Francis Elementary typically covers pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.