Castle Hayne Elementary

Castle Hayne Elementary is an elementary campus of medium-sized scale in Castle Hayne, North Carolina, operated by New Hanover County Schools, educateing 531 students in grades pre-K through 5.

Across the 42 schools in New Hanover County Schools (24,791 students total), Castle Hayne Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, Castle Hayne Elementary records that the largest single group is White at 49%, but no single group is in the majority. The remainder comes out to 23% Hispanic, 19% Black, 7% multiracial. That is meaningfully less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 77%.

On the resource side, The school reports having 37 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 14.6:1. That tracks the state average closely. Roughly 99% of students at Castle Hayne Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, New Hanover County runs at roughly 67%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully above the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Castle Hayne Elementary sits in the top 10% of North Carolina schools after the BeatsExpectations adjustment. Predicted proficiency for the school's FRL share is roughly 48.5%; actual is 65.6%, +17.1 points clear of the demographic baseline.

In the broader community, census data for New Hanover County shows the typical household earns roughly $75,166 per year, 45% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 8%. Castle Hayne Elementary is one of 50 public schools in New Hanover County (combined enrollment of about 27,460 students).

Nearest neighbor: Holly Shelter Middle, around 0.1 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Castle Hayne Elementary. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Castle Hayne Elementary ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, above the local average of 59.0%.

The school occupies an outlying site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Castle Hayne Elementary has decreased 9%, going from 586 students in 2018 to 531 in 2025. The White share of enrollment declined from 54% to 49% over that span.

On this page, members of the Castle Hayne Elementary community share and discuss open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.