Enrollment
135
Rhode Island · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Providence, RI
Southside Elementary Charter
Federal NCES profile for Southside Elementary Charter, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 34/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 440002800490Charter school
👥 S:T ratio 32
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 73
📋 Attendance 0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Southside Elementary Charter earns 34/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 88% of Rhode Island schools. It is also one of the smallest schools in Rhode Island.
- #1 of 26
- elementary schools in Providence · Resource Index
- 34
- Resource Index · Typical
- 16.9:1
- large classes for Rhode Island
- 64.5%
- free-lunch eligible
Southside Elementary Charter has class sizes larger than 88% of Rhode Island schools. Computed live against every Rhode Island school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Southside Elementary Charter ranks #1 of 26 elementary schools in Providence, RI.
School address
District: Southside Charter School · Rhode Island
NCES ID 440002800490 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
8.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
16.9:1
vs 13.8:1 Rhode Island avg
+22% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
64.5%
vs 39.6% Rhode Island avg
+63% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Southside Elementary Charter compares with Rhode Island and U.S. medians
What stands out at Southside Elementary Charter
Small campus without a staffing-size advantage
Southside Elementary Charter enrolls fewer students than most Rhode Island schools, yet its student-teacher ratio is still on the heavier side of the state distribution. Small enrollment therefore does not translate into more teacher capacity per student here. That makes staffing capacity, rather than campus scale alone, the useful interpretation. The counselor, attendance, and program indicators below help show whether the pressure is narrow or part of a broader resource constraint.
Need and resources require a component-level read
Southside Elementary Charter falls within the wide middle of the Rhode Island distribution on both free-meal eligibility and the Resource Investment Index. Neither measure supplies an honest headline by itself. The useful distinctions are in the components: classroom staffing, counselor availability, attendance, gifted-program access, and district spending. Those fields can pull in opposite directions even when the overall percentile looks ordinary.
Attendance is the dominant support signal
Southside Elementary Charter's 40.7% chronic-absence rate is more consequential than a generic staffing label: at least one quarter of students missed 10% or more of school days in the 2021-22 collection. That level can affect instruction, counseling demand, and continuity even when other reported resources look ordinary. The dataset records the scale of absence but not its causes, so it should prompt a current-year question rather than a conclusion about school management.
Southside Elementary Charter is a higher-need, small charter elementary school in Providence, Rhode Island, enrolling 135 students.
Class loads run heavy: 16.9:1 is larger than about 88% of Rhode Island schools and 22% above the 13.8:1 state mean, so each teacher carries more students than is typical.
Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 64.5% of students eligible for free meals.
This is a small campus: fewer students than 95% of Rhode Island schools, with 135 enrolled.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 308 scored Rhode Island schools.
Its student body is led by Hispanic or Latino (61%) and African American (32%) (diversity index 53/100).
Counselor coverage is strong, about 135 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 40.7% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
Its district draws 23.8% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Among Providence's elementary schools, it stands alongside Alfred Lima Sr. El School (662 students): Southside Elementary Charter is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs heavier classes (16.9:1 vs 16.1:1).
Southside Charter School is a single-school charter district, so Southside Elementary Charter operates independently rather than alongside district-mates. At 135 students, it is also a small operation, on the smaller end of Rhode Island's single-school districts.
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 Southside Elementary Charter compares
Southside Elementary Charter on the metrics families compare, against Rhode Island and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Rhode Island | Rhode Island avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 16.9:1 | ▲ 22% | 13.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 64.5% | ▲ 63% | 39.6% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 135 | top 95% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
16.9:1
Leaner classes than 31% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
135
Bigger than 13% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
64.5%
free-lunch eligible
- 63% above the Rhode Island average of 39.6%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
16.9:1
students per teacher
- 22% above state mean
Top 88% in Rhode Island - lower ratio than 12% of state schools
Between 16:1 and 20:1, squarely in the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
40.7%
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
$20,783
per pupil, district-wide
- above Rhode Island avg of $20,315
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 135 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
Hispanic or Latino 60.7%
African American 31.9%
Two or More 4.4%
White 3.0%
Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 60.7% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 52.7/100
Simpson diversity index - at 52.7, Southside Elementary Charter is more mixed than the Rhode Island school average of 47.0.
Programs
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Southside Charter School, which includes Southside Elementary Charter.
$20,783
Per student
+2%
vs Rhode Island
Avg $20,315
+25%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 19.1%
State 57.0%
Federal 23.8%
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.
Similar elementary schools in Providence
6 comparable elementary schools (grades K-5) serving the same city.
Alfred Lima Sr. El School
Standard public school
662 students 16.1:1 students per teacher
Frank D. Spaziano Elem School
Standard public school
588 students 22.6:1 students per teacher
Achievement First Promesa
Standard public school
548 students 20.3:1 students per teacher
West Broadway Middle School
Standard public school
516 students 15.6:1 students per teacher
George J. West El. School
Standard public school
502 students 14.3:1 students per teacher
Carl G. Lauro El. School
Standard public school
475 students 11:1 students per teacher
Similar elementary schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Rhode Island, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~135 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Southside Elementary Charter's federal record.
- Compare Southside Elementary Charter against another school. Compare schools
- Southside Charter School's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
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 Southside Elementary Charter
How many students attend Southside Elementary Charter?
Southside Elementary Charter has 135 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Providence, RI.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Southside Elementary Charter?
The student-teacher ratio at Southside Elementary Charter is 16.9:1, which is 22% higher than the Rhode Island average of 13.8:1 and 8% higher than the national average of 15.7:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Southside Elementary Charter?
64.5% of students at Southside Elementary Charter are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Rhode Island average of 39.6%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Southside Elementary Charter?
The largest demographic group at Southside Elementary Charter is Hispanic or Latino at 60.7% of enrollment, in Providence, RI. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 52.7/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Southside Elementary Charter?
Southside Elementary Charter has a Resource Investment Index of 34/100 (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).
How does Southside Elementary Charter rank among elementary schools in Providence?
By Resource Investment Index, Southside Elementary Charter ranks #1 of 26 elementary schools in Providence, RI. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all elementary schools in Providence on the city page.
What other schools are in Southside Charter School?
None; Southside Charter School is a single-school charter district, and Southside Elementary Charter is its only campus.
Related tools
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 July 2026.