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What's the biggest difference between Bessemer City Central Elem and what you expected?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
392
Elementary
DISTRICT 457 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·GASTON COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370162000667
Bessemer City Central Elem
1400 Puett's Chapel Road, Bessemer City, NC 28016 · (704) 836-9108 · Gaston County
GRADES 03–05ELEMENTARY22-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL392 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 3% of North Carolina public elementary schools
- FTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats 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
16.1:1
24 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.3:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
98%
385 students
DISTRICT 88% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 170 | 43% |
| Grade 4 | 112 | 29% |
| Grade 5 | 110 | 28% |
Student demographics
71%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 69% · 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
24.4%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
31.4%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 24 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 31 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of NC schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
29.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.9%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-19.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 29% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 49% typical for North Carolina schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Bessemer City Central Elem
Bessemer City Central Elem's state test result (29.1% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bessemer City Central Elem this school | 392 | 98.2% | 29.1% |
| Acme Delco Elementary Riegelwood | 349 | 99.1% | 45.2% |
| Spring Hope Elementary Spring Hope | 378 | 97.9% | 49.7% |
| Bessemer City Primary Bessemer City | 445 | 99.3% | N/A |
| J R Ingram Jr Elementary Sanford | 419 | 99.3% | 51.1% |
| Little River Elementary Durham | 326 | 99.1% | 56.7% |
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 Bessemer City Central Elem ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Gaston County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 29.1% | #1,251 of 1,297 | #24 of 27 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 31.4% | #1,243 of 1,296 | #22 of 27 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 24.4% | #1,250 of 1,300 | #24 of 27 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 392 | #923 of 1,485 | #18 of 31 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.1:1 | #1,036 of 1,377 | #21 of 29 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 70.6% | #166 of 1,379 | #4 of 29 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 98.2% | #880 of 1,414 | #25 of 31 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -11.3% | #537 of 937 | #12 of 22 |
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
392
-34 (-8%) vs 2020
-20% since 1990-91, when it was 493
Student : Teacher
16.1:1
was 17.0:1
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 | 392 | 24.4 | 16.1:1 | 98% (385) |
| 2023-24 | 355 | 23.8 | 14.9:1 | 99% (352) |
| 2022-23 | 407 | 25 | 16.3:1 | 99% (404) |
| 2020-21 | 426 | 25 | 17.0:1 | 99% (421) |
| 2017-18 | 442 | 25.2 | 17.6:1 | 98% (431) |
| 2015-16 | 429 | 25 | 17.2:1 | 99% (426) |
| 2010-11 | 355 | 24 | 14.8:1 | 73% (258) |
| 2000-01 | 401 | 27 | 14.8:1 | 57% (227) |
| 1990-91 | 493 | 30 | 16.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Bessemer City Central Elem.
Since 2017-18: students down 11% (442 to 392); teachers down 3% (25.2 to 24.4).
About Bessemer City Central Elem
As a low-enrollment elementary school, Bessemer City Central Elem serves students in Bessemer City, North Carolina. Its grade span covers grades 3 through 5, with 392 students on the rolls.
Bessemer City Central Elem is a school in Gaston County Schools. The district has 56 schools and 30,995 students.
The largest racial or ethnic group at Bessemer City Central Elem is White, with 41% of students. Other groups make up 25% Hispanic, 24% Black, and 10% multiracial. Gaston County as a whole is about 68% White, so the school's share is lower. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 71%.
Bessemer City Central Elem has a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.1:1, with 24.4 full-time-equivalent teachers. Compared with the 14.9:1 average for elementary schools in North Carolina, this school's ratio is higher. The school has 98% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. By comparison, the figure for public schools in Gaston County is 85%.
On the allk12 Grade, Bessemer City Central Elem lands at F, ahead of 3% of North Carolina public elementary schools.
Bessemer City Central Elem is 19.8 points below expectations on state tests, given its student poverty level, placing it in the bottom 10% in North Carolina.
Five-year Census Bureau estimates for Gaston County show that median household income comes to about $67,478, roughly 27% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Gaston County counts 61 public schools with about 35,898 students.
Bessemer City Primary is the nearest public school to Bessemer City Central Elem, less than a tenth of a mile away. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Bessemer City Central Elem comes in 5th of 6 nearby schools on average proficiency.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is Suburb: Mid-size: in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Enrollment was 392 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, it was 426.
This community page is for conversations about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Gaston County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
234,881
Census ACS
Median income
$67,478
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
27%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
61
35,898 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Gaston County Schools
- Ashbrook HighHigh · 1,386 students
- Hunter Huss HighHigh · 1,165 students
- Forestview HighHigh · 1,133 students
- North Gaston HighHigh · 1,061 students
- South Point HighHigh · 989 students
- Cramerton MiddleMiddle · 959 students
Other schools in Bessemer City
- Bessemer City HighHigh · 590 students
- Bessemer City MiddleMiddle · 497 students
- Bessemer City PrimaryElementary · 445 students
- Tryon ElementaryElementary · 336 students
Nearby schools
- Bessemer City Primary0.0 mi · 445
- Bessemer City High0.4 mi · 590
- Bessemer City Middle2.4 mi · 497
- Edward D Sadler Jr Elementary School3.0 mi · 374
- Costner Elementary3.3 mi · 430
- Tryon Elementary3.9 mi · 336
Frequently asked questions
About Bessemer City Central ElemWhat is the total enrollment at Bessemer City Central Elem?
Bessemer City Central Elem enrolls approximately 392 students in grades 03-05.
What age range does Bessemer City Central Elem serve?
Bessemer City Central Elem serves students from grade 03 through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Bessemer City Central Elem?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Bessemer City Central Elem is approximately 16.1:1 (24 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Bessemer City Central Elem?
Student demographics at Bessemer City Central Elem are roughly 41% White, 25% Hispanic, 24% Black, 1% Asian, 10% Two or more.
Who oversees Bessemer City Central Elem?
Bessemer City Central Elem is overseen by Gaston County Schools in Gaston County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.