Total enrollment
8,547
-251 (-3%) vs SY 2020-21
22 schools in Wilkes County Schools
North Carolina · 8,547 students · 11 cities
Of the 22 public K-12 schools run by Wilkes County Schools, combined student count is roughly 8,547, with 13 elementary, 4 middle, and 5 high.
4-year change in Wilkes County Schools
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25School count
22
0 (0%) vs SY 2020-21
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, enrollment-weighted demographic averages
How Wilkes County Schools ranks
Among districts| Measure | This district | In North Carolina | In the US |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 55.2% | #33 of 112 | N/A |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 8,547 | #42 of 116 | #1,093 of 9,234 |
| Number of schools ranked most first | 22 | #35 of 116 | N/A |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.3:1 | #42 of 116 | #5,848 of 9,044 |
| Free or reduced-price lunch share ranked highest first | 99.1% | #28 of 114 | #302 of 8,164 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 46.0% | #83 of 111 | #3,408 of 6,853 |
Districts need at least 2 schools and 500 students to be ranked. Test proficiency is ranked within the state only, since each state gives a different test. Each rank links to the full list.
Inside Wilkes County Schools
State test results across the district's 21 scored schools run from Moravian Falls Elementary School at 76.9% proficient to North Wilkesboro Elementary School at 42.6%, a gap of 34.3 points. That is the 72nd widest gap among 104 North Carolina districts with four or more scored schools.
Since 2017-18, the 22 district schools that reported both years went from 9,770 to 8,547 students (down 13%) and from 600 to 557 full-time teachers (down 7%), as of 2024-25.
Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across each school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25; schools with fewer than 100 students and schools serving specialized populations are left out. Staffing figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data and count only schools that reported students and teachers in both years.
About Wilkes County Schools
As a thinly populated district in North Carolina, Wilkes County Schools hosts 8,547 students across 22 schools.
On the school-mix side, Wilkes County Schools is built around 13 elementary, 4 middle, and 5 high schools.
On a per-school basis, Wilkes County Schools runs about 389 students per school, 32% below the state mean of roughly 571.
Five-year track record. Total public-school enrollment in Wilkes County Schools has shrank 3% since SY 2020-21, moving from about 8,798 students to 8,547.
On this page, the community for Wilkes County Schools discusses comparison threads between local schools and program reviews. Parents, students, and educators in the area can post or comment.