1
What's the one class at Cape Fear Elementary every student should take?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
533
Elementary
DISTRICT 559 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PENDER COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370357002601
Cape Fear Elementary
1882 NC Hwy 133, Rocky Point, NC 28457 · (910) 602-3767 · Pender County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL533 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 31% of North Carolina public elementary schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+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
14.5:1
37 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.8:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
99%
530 students
DISTRICT 82% · 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 | 39 | 7% |
| Kindergarten | 78 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 73 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 81 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 78 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 110 | 21% |
| Grade 5 | 74 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (78) is 5% larger than its 5th grade class (74).
Student demographics
60%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · 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
36.5%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
51.5%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 37 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 52 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
46.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.5%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 47% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 48% typical for North Carolina schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among North Carolina's top nor bottom 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 Cape Fear Elementary
Cape Fear Elementary's state test result (46.6% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Fear Elementary this school | 533 | 99.4% | 46.6% |
| Tramway Elementary Sanford | 559 | 98.7% | 72.5% |
| China Grove Elementary China Grove | 592 | 99.5% | 31.1% |
| Rock Ridge Elementary Wilson | 476 | 99.4% | 81.5% |
| Midway Elementary Dunn | 539 | 99.3% | 64.3% |
| Randleman Elementary School Randleman | 487 | 99.4% | 38.7% |
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 Cape Fear Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Pender County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 46.6% | #910 of 1,297 | #7 of 9 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 51.5% | #860 of 1,296 | #7 of 9 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 36.5% | #1,054 of 1,300 | #7 of 9 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 533 | #519 of 1,485 | #4 of 9 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.5:1 | #592 of 1,377 | #3 of 9 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 60.4% | #691 of 1,379 | #5 of 9 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 99.4% | #232 of 1,414 | #3 of 9 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +7.5% | #216 of 369 | N/A |
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
533
+25 (+5%) vs 2020
+4% since 2010-11, when it was 513
Student : Teacher
14.5:1
was 15.9:1
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 | 533 | 36.9 | 14.5:1 | 99% (530) |
| 2023-24 | 543 | 39 | 13.9:1 | 99% (540) |
| 2022-23 | 545 | 37 | 14.7:1 | 72% (394) |
| 2020-21 | 508 | 32 | 15.9:1 | 47% (241) |
| 2017-18 | 496 | 32 | 15.5:1 | 63% (310) |
| 2015-16 | 480 | 29 | 16.6:1 | 69% (332) |
| 2010-11 | 513 | 32 | 16.0:1 | 71% (366) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Cape Fear Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 7% (496 to 533); teachers up 15% (32 to 36.9).
About Cape Fear Elementary
As a medium-sized elementary school, Cape Fear Elementary serves students in Rocky Point, North Carolina. Classes run from pre-K through 5, and the school has 533 students.
Cape Fear Elementary is one of the 19 schools that make up Pender County Schools (11,073 students in total).
At 54%, White students outnumber all other groups at Cape Fear Elementary combined. It is also 31% Hispanic, 9% Black, and 6% multiracial. Pender County's residents are about 75% White, 21 points above the school's share. By the diversity index, Cape Fear Elementary comes in at 60%.
The teaching staff at Cape Fear Elementary is 36.9 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the ratio is 14.5:1. Elementary schools in North Carolina average about 14.9:1, a similar figure. The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 99%. On average, public schools in Pender County report 70%.
Measured against North Carolina public elementary schools, Cape Fear Elementary receives a C. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Cape Fear Elementary is 1.9 points below its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests (46.6% versus 48.5%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in North Carolina.
County data help place the school in context: in Pender County, median household income is about $80,396, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 31%, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. Cape Fear Elementary is among the 19 public schools in Pender County.
Nearby, Pender Innovative Learning Academy is less than a tenth of a mile away. Other public schools within five miles number 6. The average proficiency across nearby scored schools is 60.6%; Cape Fear Elementary's is 46.6%, ranking 7th of 8.
The school's locale code, Rural: Fringe, means it is in rural territory close to an urban area.
The student count in 2024-25 was 533, 5% above the 508 of 2020-21. Students per teacher fell from 15.9 in 2020-21 to 14.5 in 2024-25.
Parents and students can post about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news at Cape Fear Elementary. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Pender County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
65,550
Census ACS
Median income
$80,396
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
31%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
19
11,073 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Pender County Schools
- Topsail HighHigh · 1,945 students
- Surf City ElementaryElementary · 857 students
- Topsail MiddleMiddle · 837 students
- Surf City MiddleMiddle · 752 students
- Heide Trask HighHigh · 732 students
- Pender HighHigh · 648 students
Other schools in Rocky Point
- Heide Trask HighHigh · 732 students
- Cape Fear MiddleMiddle · 430 students
- Rocky Point ElementaryElementary · 403 students
- Pender Innovative Learning AcademyCombined · 38 students
Nearby schools
- Pender Innovative Learning Academy0.1 mi · 38
- Cape Fear Middle0.1 mi · 430
- Heide Trask High2.6 mi · 732
- Rocky Point Elementary2.7 mi · 403
- Castle Hayne Elementary4.1 mi · 531
- Holly Shelter Middle4.1 mi · 801
Frequently asked questions
About Cape Fear ElementaryHow many students attend Cape Fear Elementary?
Cape Fear Elementary enrolls approximately 533 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Cape Fear Elementary serve?
Cape Fear Elementary serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Cape Fear Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Cape Fear Elementary is approximately 14.5:1 (37 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Cape Fear Elementary?
Student demographics at Cape Fear Elementary are roughly 54% White, 31% Hispanic, 9% Black, 6% Two or more.
What district is Cape Fear Elementary in?
Cape Fear Elementary is part of Pender County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.