Banks Elementary

Set in Kinston, North Carolina, Banks Elementary is a reasonably sized elementary school, part of Lenoir County Public Schools. It instructs 436 students across grades pre-K through 5.

Lenoir County Public Schools comprises 17 schools with combined enrollment of 8,331 students; Banks Elementary is among them.

Demographically, Banks Elementary reports that 38% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. The remainder comes out to 35% Black, 20% Hispanic, 6% multiracial. By comparison, Lenoir County as a whole is about 50% White, so the school skews considerably less White than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, Banks Elementary lists 32 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 13.6:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 14.9:1, putting Banks Elementary tighter than the state norm the norm. An estimated 99% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

After controlling for student poverty, Banks Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 48.5%, the actual is 62.8%, a residual of +14.3 points.

Across the wider county, Lenoir County reports that median household earnings sit near $45,143, roughly 16% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 17% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Lenoir County's 18 public schools (combined enrollment of about 8,480 students), Banks Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Lenoir County Learning Academy is the nearest neighboring public school, about 2.0 miles from this campus. 3 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Banks Elementary comes 1st of 7 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 37.0%.

The school occupies a countryside site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count shrank 23%: 564 students in 2018 compared to 436 in 2025. The White share of enrollment decreased from 53% to 38% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 15.9:1 in 2018 to 13.6:1 today.

Inside the community feed, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.