Grady Brown Elementary

As a middle-of-the-pack K-5 school in Hillsborough, North Carolina, Grady Brown Elementary caters to 406 students from grades pre-K through 5, operated by Orange County Schools.

Grady Brown Elementary is one of 13 schools operated by Orange County Schools, a district that caters to 6,982 students overall.

On the student-mix side, Grady Brown Elementary reports that the most-represented group is White (42%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups; the rest is composed of 36% Hispanic, 11% Black, 8% multiracial, 3% Asian. That is visibly less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 69%.

Looking at school resources, The school currently runs with 31 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 13.2:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 14.9:1 average. Around 60% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is noticeably above Orange County's rate of about 40%.

After controlling for student poverty, Grady Brown Elementary tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 60.6% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 55.2%.

Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Orange County) reports that median household income runs about $90,089, roughly 62% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 5%. Across Orange County's 38 public schools (combined enrollment of about 19,582 students), Grady Brown Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Cedar Ridge High, around 0.2 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Grady Brown Elementary. On composite proficiency, Grady Brown Elementary comes 4th of 7 in the immediate cluster, behind the nearby-schools average of 60.8%.

Geographically, the school is in a small-town area.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 11%: 455 students in 2018 compared to 406 in 2025. The White share of enrollment fell from 50% to 42% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio widened from 12.2:1 in 2018 to 13.2:1 today.

On the community side, the feed for Grady Brown Elementary typically covers enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.