Lakemont Elementary

Located at 51 Gibbons St, in Petersburg, Virginia, Lakemont Elementary is a close-knit elementary campus that instructs 393 students (grades K through 5), operated by Petersburg City Public Schools. That puts it 21% below the typical public school in Virginia, which averages around 499 students.

Petersburg City Public Schools runs 7 schools in total, collectively educating 4,582 students. Lakemont Elementary is one of those campuses.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Lakemont Elementary logs that Black students make up the majority at 73%. Beyond that, the school shows 21% Hispanic, 4% White. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

In terms of school funding signals, On paper, Lakemont Elementary has 33 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 11.9:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.8:1, putting Lakemont Elementary tighter than the state norm the norm. Around 94% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

After controlling for student poverty, Lakemont Elementary is in the bottom 10% of Virginia public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 62.6%; Lakemont Elementary posts 24.1%, -38.5 points below that line.

In the area at large, census data for Petersburg city shows median household income runs about $50,698, 25% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 20%. Across Petersburg city's 9 public schools (combined enrollment of about 4,582 students), Lakemont Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Colonial Heights Middle is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.8 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Lakemont Elementary comes 8th of 8 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 59.1%.

The school occupies a commuter-belt site.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Lakemont Elementary has shrank 18%, going from 479 students in 2018 to 393 in 2025. Black enrollment moved from 83% to 73% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 12.9:1 in 2018 to 11.9:1 today.

On this page, members of the Lakemont Elementary community share and discuss school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.