Ranger Elementary

Ranger Elementary is one of the very small K-5 schools in Ranger, West Virginia, one of the schools within LINCOLN COUNTY SCHOOLS, with 73 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 5. That puts it 74% smaller than the typical public school in West Virginia, which averages around 283 students.

LINCOLN COUNTY SCHOOLS is the operating authority for Ranger Elementary, handling staffing, calendars, and reporting to the state department of education.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Ranger Elementary records that 93% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. Other groups include 7% Black. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

In terms of school funding signals, Ranger Elementary lists 8 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 10.9:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 12.9:1 average.

In the broader community, ACS estimates for Lincoln County put the typical household earns roughly $46,205 per year, about 8% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 18%. Across Lincoln County's 8 public schools (combined enrollment of about 2,804 students), Ranger Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Harts PK-8, around 6.5 miles off. Within ten miles, there are 2 other public schools, a sparser pattern than typical urban areas.

Ranger Elementary operates from an outlying location.

Five-year trend. Over the past 6-year window, the student count shrank 32%: 108 students in 2018 compared to 73 in 2024. The Black share of enrollment grew from 3% to 7% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 10.3:1 in 2018 to 9.1:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, members of the Ranger Elementary community share and discuss fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.