Coats Elementary

Coats Elementary, a moderately sized elementary campus in Coats, North Carolina, operated by Harnett County Schools, enrolls 633 students, covering grades pre-K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 467 students per school, that is 36% bigger than typical.

Harnett County Schools runs 29 schools in total, collectively educating 20,095 students. Coats Elementary is one of those campuses.

On demographics, Coats Elementary lists that the most-represented group is White (40%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Beyond that, the school shows 40% Hispanic, 15% Black, 4% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 62% White, putting the school's mix visibly less White than the area baseline.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 46 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 13.7:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 14.9:1 average. Around 97% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is noticeably above Harnett County's rate of about 74%.

With demographic context factored in, Coats Elementary tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 49.3% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 36.0%.

Around the school, census data for Harnett County shows median household earnings sit near $71,287, 25% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. Across Harnett County's 31 public schools (combined enrollment of about 20,611 students), Coats Elementary is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Coats-Erwin Middle, roughly 2.2 miles away. 3 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Coats Elementary at 6th of 8; the average score across the group is 43.4%.

Geographically, the school is in a low-density area.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Coats Elementary has contracted 7%, going from 681 students in 2018 to 633 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 52% to 40% across the same window.

Inside the community feed, the feed for Coats Elementary typically covers science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.