Elementary school (grades K-5) · Damariscotta, ME

Great Salt Bay Community School

Federal NCES profile for Great Salt Bay Community School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 45/100.

2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 230616000916
0/100100/10045/100
👥 S:T ratio
57
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
21
📋 Attendance
32
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Great Salt Bay Community School earns 45/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Maine median.

45
Resource Index · Typical
10.7:1
students per teacher
30.5%
free-lunch eligible
397
students enrolled

Great Salt Bay Community School has class sizes near the Maine median. Computed live against every Maine school reporting to NCES.

School address

CCD year-over-year · 2022-23 → 2023-24

-20 students YoY

Great Salt Bay Community School held near 387 students from 2022-23 to 2023-24 (-20 headcount).

Teacher FTE lost 37.6 → 35.6 across the same CCD years.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data public-school universe (2022-23, 2023-24).

Steady CCD campus

-20 students YoY 230616000916 · Damariscotta, ME Elementary · SMALL · TRAD

397 enr · 10.7:1 · 30.5% lunch · RII 45

Nearest enrollment peer: Central Elementary School (397 students)

Great Salt Bay Community School held near 387 students from 2022-23 to 2023-24 (-20 headcount). Teacher FTE lost 37.6 → 35.6 across the same CCD years. Read with this school → · District book → · Maine schools → · Find another →

How Great Salt Bay Community School compares

Great Salt Bay Community School held steady on CCD headcount: ratios and free-lunch share vs Maine and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Maine Maine avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 10.7:1 ▼ 4% 11.1:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 30.5% ▼ 10% 34.0% 51.7%
Enrollment 397 top 23% - -

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

10.7:1
Leaner classes than 85% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
397
Bigger than 47% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators methodology

Economic need
30.5%
free-lunch eligible - 10% below the Maine average of 34.0%
Below the 40% Title I threshold; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
10.7:1
students per teacher - 4% below state mean
Top 46% in Maine - lower ratio than 54% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
27.2%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$17,356
per pupil, district-wide - below Maine avg of $20,907
Close to the U.S. public-school average per-pupil spend.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 397 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
9
in-school suspensions + 5 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 2.3 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 3.5 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Student demographics

White 91.2%
Hispanic or Latino 4.3%
Two or More 3.0%
African American 0.8%
Asian 0.8%

Largest group: White at 91.2% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 16.5/100

Simpson diversity index - at 16.5, Great Salt Bay Community School is less mixed than the Maine school average of 20.6.

Programs

Gifted & talented Yes

District finance for Great Salt Bay Csd reports $17,356 per pupil (NCES F-33) - open the district page for the full revenue mix.

Nationwide elementary schools with similar size or staffing

Out-of-state peers matched by enrollment and by student-teacher ratio, not the same-city or same-district lists above.

Frequently asked questions about Great Salt Bay Community School

How many students attend Great Salt Bay Community School?

Great Salt Bay Community School has 397 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Damariscotta, ME. CCD year-over-year: 407 (2022-23) → 387 (2023-24), nearly flat (-20).

What is the student-teacher ratio at Great Salt Bay Community School?

The student-teacher ratio at Great Salt Bay Community School is 10.7:1, which is 4% lower than the Maine average of 11.1:1 and 32% 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 Great Salt Bay Community School?

30.5% of students at Great Salt Bay Community School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Maine average of 34.0%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Great Salt Bay Community School?

The largest demographic group at Great Salt Bay Community School is White at 91.2% of enrollment, in Damariscotta, ME.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Great Salt Bay Community School?

Great Salt Bay Community School has a Resource Investment Index of 45/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, counselor availability, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

What other schools are in Great Salt Bay Csd?

None reported; Great Salt Bay Csd operates only Great Salt Bay Community School as a public school district in NCES's records.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2022-23) · 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