Enrollment
343
Tennessee · 2024-25 NCES data
Elementary school (grades K-5) · Ridgetop, TN
Watauga Elementary
Federal NCES profile for Watauga Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 46/100.
2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 470360001505
👥 S:T ratio 40
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 31
📋 Attendance 42
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Watauga Elementary earns 46/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Tennessee median.
- 46
- Resource Index · Typical
- 14.9:1
- students per teacher
- 343
- students enrolled
Watauga Elementary has class sizes near the Tennessee median. Computed live against every Tennessee school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Robertson County · Tennessee
NCES ID 470360001505 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
23.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
14.9:1
vs 15.3:1 Tennessee avg
-3% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Watauga Elementary compares with Tennessee and U.S. medians
What stands out at Watauga Elementary
Watauga Elementary is a mid-sized elementary school in Ridgetop, Tennessee, enrolling 343 students.
At 14.9:1, 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 343 puts it in the smaller third of Tennessee schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 1,838 scored Tennessee schools.
Its student body is led by White (74%) and Hispanic or Latino (10%) (diversity index 43/100).
Counselor availability sits well past the ASCA benchmark, roughly 343 students sharing each counselor, though short of the most stretched campuses.
Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 23.3% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.
Robertson County also operates Springfield High School (1,026 students) and White House Heritage High School (977 students) alongside Watauga 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 Watauga Elementary compares
Watauga 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 | 14.9:1 | ▼ 3% | 15.3:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 343 | top 70% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
14.9:1
Leaner classes than 48% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
343
Bigger than 39% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
14.9:1
students per teacher
- 3% below state mean
Top 51% in Tennessee - lower ratio than 49% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
23.3%
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
$9,085
per pupil, district-wide
- below 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 343 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
2
in-school suspensions + 5 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.6 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 2.0 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 74.1%
Hispanic or Latino 10.2%
Two or More 8.7%
African American 5.8%
Asian 0.9%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.3%
Largest group: White at 74.1% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 42.9/100
Simpson diversity index - at 42.9, Watauga Elementary is more mixed than the Tennessee school average of 38.3.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Robertson County, which includes Watauga Elementary.
$9,085
Per student
-16%
vs Tennessee
Avg $10,822
-45%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 29.8%
State 56.3%
Federal 13.9%
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 Watauga Elementary Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Springfield High School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
| White House Heritage High School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Greenbrier High School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Crestview Elementary School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
| East Robertson High School | Larger | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Watauga Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 1,026
- Students per teacher
- 14.7:1
- Resource Index
- 38/100
- Enrollment
- 977
- Students per teacher
- 19.2:1
- Resource Index
- 34/100
- Enrollment
- 769
- Students per teacher
- 17.5:1
- Resource Index
- 32/100
- Enrollment
- 755
- Students per teacher
- 14:1
- Resource Index
- 40/100
- Enrollment
- 712
- Students per teacher
- 17.4:1
- Resource Index
- 43/100
Similar elementary 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 (~343 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Watauga Elementary's federal record.
- Compare Watauga Elementary against another school. Compare schools
- Robertson 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 Watauga Elementary
How many students attend Watauga Elementary?
Watauga Elementary has 343 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Ridgetop, TN.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Watauga Elementary?
The student-teacher ratio at Watauga Elementary is 14.9:1, which is 3% lower than the Tennessee average of 15.3:1 and 5% 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 Watauga Elementary?
The largest demographic group at Watauga Elementary is White at 74.1% of enrollment, in Ridgetop, TN.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Watauga Elementary?
Watauga Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 46/100 (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).
Is Watauga Elementary a good school?
Watauga Elementary earns 46/100 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 Robertson County?
Besides Watauga Elementary, Robertson County also operates Springfield High School (1,026 students), White House Heritage High School (977 students), and Greenbrier High School (769 students). See the Robertson 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.