Enrollment
159
Elementary
DISTRICT 171 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·AVERY COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370030000082
Banner Elk Elementary
155 Orchard Lane, Banner Elk, NC 28604 · (828) 737-5700 · Avery County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL159 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 98% of North Carolina public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A+Beats 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
15.3:1
10 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.7:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
92%
147 students
DISTRICT 97% · STATE 82%
Community
0
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 | 18 | 11% |
| Kindergarten | 18 | 11% |
| Grade 1 | 23 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 23 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 33 | 21% |
| Grade 4 | 17 | 11% |
| Grade 5 | 27 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (18) is 33% smaller than its 5th grade class (27).
Student demographics
23%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 33% · 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
72.7%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
84.4%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 73 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 84 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
79.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
50.6%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+28.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 79% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 51% 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 29 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 Banner Elk Elementary
Banner Elk Elementary's state test result (79.2% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banner Elk Elementary this school | 159 | 92.5% | 79.2% |
| Peachtree Elementary Murphy | 166 | 97.6% | 72.3% |
| Black Mountain Elementary Black Mountain | 163 | 96.9% | 58.3% |
| Saluda Elementary School Saluda | 142 | 97.9% | 81.3% |
| Kings Creek Elementary Lenoir | 153 | 98.0% | 37.0% |
| Ellendale Elementary Taylorsville | 168 | 98.2% | 51.4% |
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 Banner Elk Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 79.2% | #82 of 1,297 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 84.4% | #60 of 1,296 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 72.7% | #102 of 1,300 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 159 | #1,423 of 1,485 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 92.5% | #1,076 of 1,414 |
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
159
-4 (-2%) vs 2020
-22% since 1990-91, when it was 204
Student : Teacher
15.3:1
was 11.6:1
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 | 159 | 10.4 | 15.3:1 | 92% (147) |
| 2023-24 | 168 | 14.1 | 11.9:1 | 98% (165) |
| 2022-23 | 176 | 14.6 | 12.1:1 | 47% (83) |
| 2020-21 | 163 | 14 | 11.6:1 | 41% (67) |
| 2017-18 | 165 | 14 | 11.8:1 | 50% (82) |
| 2015-16 | 180 | 13 | 13.8:1 | 56% (101) |
| 2010-11 | 164 | 11 | 14.9:1 | 54% (89) |
| 2000-01 | 196 | 17 | 11.5:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 204 | 12 | 17.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Banner Elk Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 4% (165 to 159); teachers down 26% (14 to 10.4).
About Banner Elk Elementary
Banner Elk Elementary is a very small elementary school found in Banner Elk, North Carolina. The school enrolls 159 students in pre-K through 5. Across elementary schools in North Carolina, the average enrollment is about 467.
Banner Elk Elementary sits within Avery County Schools, which has 8 schools and 1,782 students.
White students are 87% of those enrolled at Banner Elk Elementary. Next come 9% Hispanic and 3% Asian. That is in line with Avery County, where about 87% of residents are White. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 23%.
Banner Elk Elementary reported 10.4 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, a ratio of 15.3:1. The average for elementary schools in North Carolina is about 14.9:1. Roughly 92% of students at Banner Elk Elementary can receive free or reduced-price lunch.
Among North Carolina public elementary schools, Banner Elk Elementary outscored 98%, which works out to an A+ on the allk12 Grade.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Banner Elk Elementary would score about 50.6%. It scores 79.2%, a top-10% result among North Carolina schools on BeatsExpectations.
For Avery County, Census Bureau data show the median household earns about $61,428 a year, 25% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 6% of people live in poverty. Counting Banner Elk Elementary, Avery County has 10 public schools.
Newland Elementary is the nearest public school to Banner Elk Elementary, about 5.9 miles away. Banner Elk Elementary is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within ten miles. The nearest schools with test data average 52.0%, lower than Banner Elk Elementary's 79.2%.
NCES lists the school's locale as Rural: Distant. That means it sits in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
There was little change in enrollment from 2020-21 (163) to 2024-25 (159). The school's ratio increased from 11.6:1 to 15.3:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Banner Elk Elementary has a community page on allk12 for topics such as athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Avery County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
17,680
Census ACS
Median income
$61,428
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
25%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
10
2,025 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Avery County Schools
- Avery County HighHigh · 542 students
- Newland ElementaryElementary · 214 students
- Cranberry MiddleMiddle · 202 students
- Freedom Trail ElementaryElementary · 202 students
- Crossnore ElementaryElementary · 184 students
- Avery MiddleMiddle · 181 students
Nearby schools
- Newland Elementary5.9 mi · 214
- Freedom Trail Elementary5.9 mi · 202
- Cranberry Middle5.9 mi · 202
- Valle Crucis Elementary6.1 mi · 345
- Avery Middle6.5 mi · 181
- Avery County High6.6 mi · 542
Frequently asked questions
About Banner Elk ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Banner Elk Elementary?
Banner Elk Elementary enrolls approximately 159 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Banner Elk Elementary serve?
Banner Elk Elementary serves grades PK-05.
How many teachers does Banner Elk Elementary have?
Banner Elk Elementary employs 10 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.3:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Banner Elk Elementary?
At Banner Elk Elementary, the student body is approximately 87% White, 9% Hispanic, 1% Black, 3% Asian.
Is Banner Elk Elementary public or private?
Banner Elk Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Avery County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.