Thomas Jefferson Elementary

Thomas Jefferson Elementary is a mid-sized elementary campus in Forest, Virginia, run under Bedford County Public Schools. The school caters to 567 students in grades pre-K through 5.

Bedford County Public Schools runs 19 schools in total, collectively educating 8,930 students. Thomas Jefferson Elementary is one of those campuses.

Looking at the student body, Thomas Jefferson Elementary reports that White students make up the majority at 71%. Beyond that, the school shows 9% Hispanic, 8% multiracial, 7% Black, 5% Asian. That is visibly less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 86%.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 35 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 16.1:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.8:1, putting Thomas Jefferson Elementary higher than the state norm the norm. About 25% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Bedford County runs at roughly 59%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat below the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Thomas Jefferson Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 81.4%, the actual is 85.4%, a residual of +4.0 points.

Zooming out to the county, ACS estimates for Bedford County put median household earnings sit near $78,937, about 34% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 5%. Across Bedford County's 22 public schools (combined enrollment of about 8,930 students), Thomas Jefferson Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Forest Middle, around 1.5 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Thomas Jefferson Elementary. On composite proficiency, Thomas Jefferson Elementary comes 4th of 9 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 78.9%.

The campus sits in a small-town setting.

Looking at the recent track record. Thomas Jefferson Elementary's enrollment has ticked down 6% since 2018, when it stood at 604 (now 567). The White share of enrollment fell from 78% to 71% over that span.

On the community side, recent activity here tends to focus on open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.