Enrollment
589
Tennessee · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Ooltewah, TN
Wallace a. Smith Elementary
Federal NCES profile for Wallace a. Smith Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 47/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 470159002004
👥 S:T ratio 40
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 0
📋 Attendance 77
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Wallace a. Smith Elementary earns 47/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Tennessee median.
- #2 of 4
- schools in Ooltewah · Resource Index
- 47
- Resource Index · Typical
- 15.1:1
- students per teacher
- 589
- students enrolled
Wallace a. Smith Elementary has class sizes near the Tennessee median. Computed live against every Tennessee school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Wallace a. Smith Elementary ranks #2 of 4 schools in Ooltewah, TN.
School address
District: Hamilton County · Tennessee
NCES ID 470159002004 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
39.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
15.1:1
vs 15.3:1 Tennessee avg
-1% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Wallace a. Smith Elementary compares with Tennessee and U.S. medians
What stands out at Wallace a. Smith Elementary
Wallace a. Smith Elementary is a mid-sized combined-grade school in Ooltewah, Tennessee, enrolling 589 students.
At 15.1:1, its student-teacher ratio sits close to the Tennessee median, within a few percentage points of the 15.3:1 state norm, neither notably crowded nor notably small.
Enrollment of 589 puts it in the larger third of Tennessee schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 1,838 scored Tennessee schools.
Its student body is led by White (67%) and Hispanic or Latino (11%) (diversity index 51/100).
Counselor access is stretched at roughly 589 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.
Attendance holds up well here: only 9.3% of students were chronically absent, below the typical post-pandemic national figure.
Its district draws 21.1% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Among Ooltewah's public schools, it stands alongside Ooltewah Elementary (858 students): Wallace a. Smith Elementary is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (15.1:1 vs 16.2:1).
Hamilton County also operates Signal Mountain Middle/High School (1,396 students) and The Howard School (1,329 students) alongside Wallace a. Smith Elementary.
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 Wallace a. Smith Elementary compares
Wallace a. Smith Elementary on the metrics families compare, against Tennessee and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Tennessee | Tennessee avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 15.1:1 | ▼ 1% | 15.3:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 589 | top 33% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
15.1:1
Leaner classes than 46% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
589
Bigger than 72% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
15.1:1
students per teacher
- 1% below state mean
Top 54% in Tennessee - lower ratio than 46% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
9.3%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 5-10% range, close to the pre-pandemic national baseline.
Funding equity
$12,002
per pupil, district-wide
- above Tennessee avg of $10,822
Well below the U.S. average per-pupil spend, a notably leaner funding position that may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 589 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 13 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 2.2 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 67.4%
Hispanic or Latino 11.4%
African American 10.5%
Two or More 9.5%
Asian 1.0%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.2%
Largest group: White at 67.4% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 51.3/100
Simpson diversity index - at 51.3, Wallace a. Smith Elementary is more mixed than the Tennessee school average of 38.3.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Hamilton County, which includes Wallace a. Smith Elementary.
$12,002
Per student
+11%
vs Tennessee
Avg $10,822
-28%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 47.2%
State 31.6%
Federal 21.1%
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 Wallace a. Smith Elementary Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal Mountain Middle/High School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| The Howard School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
| East Hamilton High School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Ooltewah High School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
| East Brainerd Elementary | Larger | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Wallace a. Smith Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 1,396
- Students per teacher
- 16.6:1
- Resource Index
- 50/100
- Enrollment
- 1,329
- Students per teacher
- 14.4:1
- Resource Index
- 40/100
- Enrollment
- 1,293
- Students per teacher
- 68.1:1
- Resource Index
- 31/100
- Enrollment
- 1,233
- Students per teacher
- 15.8:1
- Resource Index
- 46/100
- Enrollment
- 1,177
- Students per teacher
- 16.3:1
- Resource Index
- 40/100
Similar other schools in Ooltewah
3 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Tennessee, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~589 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~15.1:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Wallace a. Smith Elementary's federal record.
- Compare Wallace a. Smith Elementary against another school. Compare schools
- Hamilton County'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 Wallace a. Smith Elementary
How many students attend Wallace a. Smith Elementary?
Wallace a. Smith Elementary has 589 students enrolled. It is a public school in Ooltewah, TN.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Wallace a. Smith Elementary?
The student-teacher ratio at Wallace a. Smith Elementary is 15.1:1, which is 1% lower than the Tennessee average of 15.3:1 and 4% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Wallace a. Smith Elementary?
The largest demographic group at Wallace a. Smith Elementary is White at 67.4% of enrollment, in Ooltewah, TN. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 51.3/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Wallace a. Smith Elementary?
Wallace a. Smith Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 47/100 (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 Wallace a. Smith Elementary rank among schools in Ooltewah?
By Resource Investment Index, Wallace a. Smith Elementary ranks #2 of 4 schools in Ooltewah, TN. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all schools in Ooltewah on the city page.
Is Wallace a. Smith Elementary a good school?
Wallace a. Smith Elementary earns 47/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Tennessee median. 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 Hamilton County?
Besides Wallace a. Smith Elementary, Hamilton County also operates Signal Mountain Middle/High School (1,396 students), The Howard School (1,329 students), and East Hamilton High School (1,293 students). See the Hamilton County district page for the complete list.
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 June 2026.