Cape Hatteras Elementary School

Located at 47500 Middle Ridge, in Buxton, North Carolina, Cape Hatteras Elementary School is a low-enrollment elementary campus that serves 284 students (grades pre-K through 5), part of Dare County Schools. That puts it 39% smaller than the typical public school in North Carolina, which averages around 467 students.

Dare County Schools runs 11 schools in total, collectively educating 4,968 students. Cape Hatteras Elementary School is one of those campuses.

Demographically, Cape Hatteras Elementary School shows that White students make up the majority at 71%; the rest breaks down as 26% Hispanic, 3% multiracial. That is considerably less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 86%.

In terms of school funding signals, The school currently runs with 25 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 11.5:1. The state averages around 14.9:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. An estimated 96% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Dare County runs at roughly 46%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully above the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Cape Hatteras Elementary School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 49.5%, the actual is 53.9%, a residual of +4.4 points.

In the broader community, community-level numbers for Dare County indicate median household earnings sit near $88,994, about 43% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 4% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Cape Hatteras Elementary School is one of 12 public schools in Dare County (combined enrollment of about 4,968 students).

Cape Hatteras Secondary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.5 miles from this campus.

Geographically, the school is in a countryside area.

Over the past 7-year window. Cape Hatteras Elementary School's enrollment has edged down 7% since 2018, when it stood at 305 (now 284). Hispanic enrollment moved from 20% to 26% across the same window. Class-load math has pulled in: from 13.3:1 in 2018 to 11.5:1 in 2025.

On allk12, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.