1
What's the vibe like in the hallways at Balls Creek Elementary right now?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
686
Elementary
DISTRICT 521 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CATAWBA COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370069000273
Balls Creek Elementary
2620 Balls Creek Road, Newton, NC 28658 · (828) 464-4766 · Catawba County
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL686 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 84% of North Carolina public elementary schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded North Carolina public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
16.5:1
42 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.3:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
100%
683 students
DISTRICT 86% · STATE 82%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 22 | 3% |
| Kindergarten | 103 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 83 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 102 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 100 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 104 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 97 | 14% |
| Grade 6 | 75 | 11% |
This year's kindergarten class (103) is 37% larger than its 6th grade class (75).
Student demographics
43%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 61% · STATE 71% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
NC EOG / EOC 2024-25 . % Grade Level Proficient (Level 3+)English Language Arts
53.4%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
74.0%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 53 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 74 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all North Carolina schools, those numbers are about 51 and 52.
Source: NC EOG / EOC. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of NC schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
66.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.4%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+17.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 66% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 48% typical for North Carolina schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 18 points, placing it in North Carolina's top 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Balls Creek Elementary
Balls Creek Elementary's state test result (66.1% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balls Creek Elementary this school | 686 | 99.6% | 66.1% |
| Welcome Elementary Lexington | 638 | 99.5% | 51.7% |
| Hopewell Elementary School Trinity | 679 | 99.6% | 72.4% |
| South Topsail Elementary Hampstead | 618 | 99.5% | 68.9% |
| Lewisville Elementary Lewisville | 591 | 99.5% | 86.2% |
| Shepherd Elementary Mooresville | 738 | 99.6% | 56.9% |
Matched among North Carolina elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Balls Creek Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Catawba County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 66.1% | #313 of 1,297 | #5 of 23 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 74.0% | #244 of 1,296 | #3 of 23 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 53.4% | #498 of 1,300 | #11 of 23 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 686 | #200 of 1,485 | #3 of 24 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.5:1 | #1,124 of 1,377 | #15 of 24 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 43.3% | #1,124 of 1,379 | #23 of 24 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 99.6% | #78 of 1,414 | #3 of 24 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -1.0% | #907 of 937 | #17 of 18 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
686
+29 (+4%) vs 2020
-14% since 1990-91, when it was 797
Student : Teacher
16.5:1
was 14.3:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 686 | 41.6 | 16.5:1 | 100% (683) |
| 2023-24 | 698 | 47.6 | 14.7:1 | 62% (432) |
| 2022-23 | 679 | 45.6 | 14.9:1 | 57% (385) |
| 2020-21 | 657 | 46 | 14.3:1 | 40% (260) |
| 2017-18 | 693 | 40.1 | 17.3:1 | 51% (352) |
| 2015-16 | 590 | 38 | 15.5:1 | 49% (290) |
| 2010-11 | 714 | 40 | 17.9:1 | 50% (359) |
| 2000-01 | 886 | 60 | 14.8:1 | 27% (236) |
| 1990-91 | 797 | 44 | 18.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Balls Creek Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 1% (693 to 686); teachers up 4% (40.1 to 41.6).
About Balls Creek Elementary
As a mid-sized elementary school, Balls Creek Elementary serves students in Newton, North Carolina. The school has 686 students in 2024-25 across pre-K through 6. Elementary schools in North Carolina have about 467 students on average; enrollment here is 47% higher.
Balls Creek Elementary is one of the 28 schools that make up Catawba County Schools (16,003 students in total).
White students are 74% of those enrolled at Balls Creek Elementary. The next largest groups are 9% Hispanic, 7% multiracial, 5% Asian, and 4% Black. That is in line with Catawba County, where about 75% of residents are White. A diversity index of 43% means there is a 43% chance two randomly chosen students at Balls Creek Elementary are from different groups.
The school had 41.6 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 16.5:1. The school's 16.5:1 compares with an average of 14.9:1 for elementary schools in North Carolina. The eligibility rate for free or reduced-price meals is 100%. The gap from the 86% average for public schools in Catawba County is 14 points.
Among North Carolina public elementary schools, Balls Creek Elementary outscored 84%, which works out to an A- on the allk12 Grade.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Balls Creek Elementary is in the top 10% of North Carolina schools: 66.1% actual against 48.4% predicted.
The school is in Catawba County, where median household income comes to about $67,864, roughly 26% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 9%. Catawba County counts 44 public schools with about 22,392 students.
About 2.6 miles separate Balls Creek Elementary from the closest public school, Bandys High. Within five miles are 3 other public schools. Compared with its nearest neighbors, Balls Creek Elementary ranks 1st of 8 on average proficiency.
Its NCES locale code is Rural: Fringe: the school is in rural territory close to an urban area.
Over 4 years, enrollment increased by 29 students, from 657 to 686. Federal data show the ratio rising from 14.3:1 to 16.5:1.
This page collects posts and questions about Balls Creek Elementary, such as athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Catawba County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
163,573
Census ACS
Median income
$67,864
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
26%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
44
22,392 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Catawba County Schools
- Saint Stephens HighHigh · 1,268 students
- Bandys HighHigh · 935 students
- Fred T Foard HighHigh · 930 students
- Maiden HighHigh · 852 students
- Bunker Hill HighHigh · 845 students
- Saint Stephens ElementaryElementary · 711 students
Other schools in Newton
- Fred T Foard HighHigh · 930 students
- Newton-Conover HighHigh · 724 students
- Startown ElementaryElementary · 540 students
- Blackburn ElementaryElementary · 484 students
- Jacobs Fork MiddleMiddle · 482 students
- North Newton ElementaryElementary · 388 students
Nearby schools
- Bandys High2.6 mi · 935
- Mill Creek Middle2.6 mi · 477
- Charles H Tuttle Elementary3.2 mi · 368
- Maiden Elementary5.8 mi · 562
- Catawba Rosenwald Education Center5.8 mi · 7
- Catawba Elementary School5.8 mi · 450
Frequently asked questions
About Balls Creek ElementaryHow many students attend Balls Creek Elementary?
Balls Creek Elementary enrolls approximately 686 students in grades PK-06.
Is Balls Creek Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Balls Creek Elementary is an elementary school covering grades PK-06.
How many teachers does Balls Creek Elementary have?
Balls Creek Elementary employs 42 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.5:1.
What is the student diversity at Balls Creek Elementary?
Student demographics at Balls Creek Elementary are roughly 74% White, 9% Hispanic, 4% Black, 5% Asian, 7% Two or more.
What district is Balls Creek Elementary in?
Balls Creek Elementary is part of Catawba County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.