Elementary school (grades K-5) · Lexington, KY

Clays Mill Elementary School

Federal NCES profile for Clays Mill Elementary School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 38/100.

2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 210186000384
0/100100/10038/100
👥 S:T ratio
46
🌟 Gifted program
30
🎓 Counselors
0
📋 Attendance
75
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Clays Mill Elementary School earns 38/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 70% of Kentucky schools.

#7 of 14
elementary schools in Lexington · Resource Index
38
Resource Index · Typical
13.5:1
small classes for Kentucky
25.5%
free-lunch eligible

Clays Mill Elementary School has class sizes smaller than 70% of Kentucky schools. Computed live against every Kentucky school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Clays Mill Elementary School ranks #7 of 14 elementary schools in Lexington, KY.

School address

Enrollment

527

Kentucky · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

39.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

13.5:1

vs 15.2:1 Kentucky avg

-11% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

25.5%

vs 59.2% Kentucky avg

-57% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Clays Mill Elementary School compares with Kentucky and U.S. medians

At or below state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Clays Mill Elementary School

Clays Mill Elementary School is a mid-sized elementary school in Lexington, Kentucky, enrolling 527 students.

Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 13.5:1 puts it in the smaller third of Kentucky schools by student-teacher ratio.

Comparatively few students face economic hardship here, 25.5% free-meal eligibility runs 57% below the Kentucky average.

Enrollment of 527 puts it in the larger third of Kentucky schools by headcount.

Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 1,389 scored Kentucky schools.

Among 91 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need Kentucky schools statewide, it ranks #75, in the lower tier once campus size and economic need are matched.

Its student body is led by White (77%) and Two or More (8%) (diversity index 39/100).

Counselor access is stretched at roughly 527 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.

Attendance holds up well here: only 9.9% of students were chronically absent, below the typical post-pandemic national figure.

The surrounding Fayette County spends $15,849 per pupil, 20% above the Kentucky average, a better-resourced district than most.

Among Lexington's elementary schools, it stands alongside Garrett Morgan Elementary (746 students): Clays Mill Elementary School is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (13.5:1 vs 15.5:1).

Fayette County also operates Lafayette High School (2,370 students) and Bryan Station High School (2,030 students) alongside Clays Mill Elementary School.

Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25

How Clays Mill Elementary School compares

Clays Mill Elementary School on the metrics families compare, against Kentucky and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Kentucky Kentucky avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 13.5:1 ▼ 11% 15.2:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 25.5% ▼ 57% 59.2% 51.7%
Enrollment 527 top 35% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

13.5:1
Leaner classes than 62% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
527
Bigger than 65% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
25.5%
free-lunch eligible - 57% below the Kentucky average of 59.2%
Below the 40% Title I threshold, among the lower-need profiles in the state; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
13.5:1
students per teacher - 11% below state mean
Top 30% in Kentucky - lower ratio than 70% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
9.9%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 5-10% range, close to the pre-pandemic national baseline.
Funding equity
$15,849
per pupil, district-wide - above Kentucky avg of $13,211
Close to the U.S. public-school average per-pupil spend.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 527 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
4
in-school suspensions + 1 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.8 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.9 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

White 77.2%
Two or More 8.3%
Hispanic or Latino 7.4%
African American 4.0%
Asian 2.8%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.2%

Largest group: White at 77.2% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 38.9/100

Simpson diversity index - at 38.9, Clays Mill Elementary School is more mixed than the Kentucky school average of 34.5.

Programs

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Fayette County, which includes Clays Mill Elementary School.

$15,849
Per student
+20%
vs Kentucky
Avg $13,211
-4%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 49.8%
State 35.5%
Federal 14.7%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

How Clays Mill Elementary School Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Lafayette High School Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Bryan Station High School Larger Higher economic need Higher S:T ratio
Henry Clay High School Larger Higher economic need Higher S:T ratio
Paul Laurence Dunbar High School Larger Higher economic need Higher S:T ratio
Frederick Douglass High School Larger Higher economic need Higher S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Clays Mill Elementary School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Fayette County · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar elementary schools in Lexington

6 comparable elementary schools (grades K-5) serving the same city.

Similar elementary schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Kentucky, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Clays Mill Elementary School's federal record.

Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.

Frequently asked questions about Clays Mill Elementary School

How many students attend Clays Mill Elementary School?

Clays Mill Elementary School has 527 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Lexington, KY.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Clays Mill Elementary School?

The student-teacher ratio at Clays Mill Elementary School is 13.5:1, which is 11% lower than the Kentucky average of 15.2:1 and 14% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Clays Mill Elementary School?

25.5% of students at Clays Mill Elementary School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Kentucky average of 59.2%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Clays Mill Elementary School?

The largest demographic group at Clays Mill Elementary School is White at 77.2% of enrollment, in Lexington, KY.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Clays Mill Elementary School?

Clays Mill Elementary School has a Resource Investment Index of 38/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Clays Mill Elementary School rank among elementary schools in Lexington?

By Resource Investment Index, Clays Mill Elementary School ranks #7 of 14 elementary schools in Lexington, KY. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all elementary schools in Lexington on the city page.

Is Clays Mill Elementary School a good school?

Clays Mill Elementary School earns 38/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 70% of Kentucky schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Fayette County?

Besides Clays Mill Elementary School, Fayette County also operates Lafayette High School (2,370 students), Bryan Station High School (2,030 students), and Henry Clay High School (1,939 students). See the Fayette County district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

View saved

Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.