Tappahannock Elementary

Tappahannock Elementary, a close-knit K-5 school in Tappahannock, Virginia, one of the schools within Essex County Public Schools, works with 400 students, covering grades pre-K through 4.

Tappahannock Elementary is one of 3 schools operated by Essex County Public Schools, a district that serves 1,092 students overall.

Demographically, Tappahannock Elementary shows that the most-represented group is Black (53%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Other groups include 26% White, 14% multiracial, 5% Hispanic. By comparison, Essex County as a whole is about 37% Black, so the school skews visibly more Black than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Tappahannock Elementary logs 32 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 12.5:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.8:1 average. An estimated 102% of students are eligible 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), Tappahannock Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 60.2%, the actual is 61.0%, a residual of +0.8 points.

In the broader community, ACS estimates for Essex County put the typical household earns roughly $56,520 per year, about 17% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 6%. Across Essex County's 4 public schools (combined enrollment of about 1,092 students), Tappahannock Elementary is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is James H. Cary Intermediate, roughly 0.5 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 2 other public schools cluster around Tappahannock Elementary. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Tappahannock Elementary ranks 6th on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 63.3%.

Tappahannock Elementary operates from a low-density location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Tappahannock Elementary's enrollment has contracted 9% since 2018, when it stood at 441 (now 400). The White share of enrollment fell from 30% to 26% over that span.

On allk12, members of the Tappahannock Elementary community share and discuss sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.