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What's something Harris Elementary School does better than most schools?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
434
Elementary
DISTRICT 354 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·RUTHERFORD COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370408001645
Harris Elementary School
3330 US 221 S Hwy, Forest City, NC 28043 · (828) 248-2354 · Rutherford County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL434 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 89% of North Carolina public elementary schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded North Carolina public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
16.1:1
27 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.1:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
96%
416 students
DISTRICT 97% · STATE 82%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 36 | 8% |
| Kindergarten | 64 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 76 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 58 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 72 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 69 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 59 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (64) is 8% larger than its 5th grade class (59).
Student demographics
27%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 50% · STATE 71% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
NC EOG / EOC 2024-25 . % Grade Level Proficient (Level 3+)English Language Arts
66.7%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
75.1%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 67 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 75 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all North Carolina schools, those numbers are about 51 and 52.
Source: NC EOG / EOC. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of NC schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
70.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
49.6%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+20.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 70% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 50% typical for North Carolina schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 20 points, placing it in North Carolina's top 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Harris Elementary School
Harris Elementary School's state test result (70.0% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harris Elementary School this school | 434 | 95.9% | 70.0% |
| Junaluska Elementary Waynesville | 428 | 99.3% | 73.6% |
| Glenwood Elementary School Marion | 435 | 99.3% | 46.9% |
| Dudley Shoals Elementary Granite Falls | 433 | 99.3% | 55.7% |
| Bethany Elementary Reidsville | 459 | 99.3% | 63.7% |
| Mountain View Elementary School Hays | 488 | 99.4% | 43.9% |
Matched among North Carolina elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Harris Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Rutherford County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 70.0% | #232 of 1,297 | #3 of 10 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 75.1% | #212 of 1,296 | #5 of 10 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 66.7% | #185 of 1,300 | #2 of 10 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 434 | #801 of 1,485 | #4 of 10 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.1:1 | #1,049 of 1,377 | #2 of 9 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 27.5% | #1,311 of 1,379 | #8 of 9 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 95.9% | #1,041 of 1,414 | #7 of 10 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -10.9% | #558 of 937 | #6 of 6 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
434
+3 (+1%) vs 2020
-41% since 1990-91, when it was 731
Student : Teacher
16.1:1
was 14.9:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 434 | 26.9 | 16.1:1 | 96% (416) |
| 2023-24 | 440 | 29.6 | 14.9:1 | 99% (437) |
| 2022-23 | 445 | 32.3 | 13.8:1 | 99% (442) |
| 2020-21 | 431 | 29 | 14.9:1 | 99% (428) |
| 2017-18 | 487 | 27.2 | 17.9:1 | 99% (480) |
| 2015-16 | 479 | 30 | 16.0:1 | 99% (475) |
| 2010-11 | 518 | 32 | 16.2:1 | 64% (329) |
| 2000-01 | 651 | 38 | 17.1:1 | 37% (244) |
| 1990-91 | 731 | 39 | 18.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Harris Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 11% (487 to 434); teachers down 1% (27.2 to 26.9).
About Harris Elementary School
Harris Elementary School is a medium-sized elementary school in Forest City, North Carolina. It serves 434 students in pre-K through 5.
Harris Elementary School is one of the 18 schools that make up Rutherford County Schools (7,394 students in total).
The student body at Harris Elementary School is 85% White. Beyond that, enrollment is 9% Hispanic and 5% multiracial. That is close to the 82% White share among all Rutherford County residents. Harris Elementary School's diversity index is 27%, against a US figure of 70%.
Dividing enrollment by its 26.9 full-time-equivalent teachers gives a ratio of about 16.1:1. That is 1.3 students per teacher above the 14.9:1 average for elementary schools in North Carolina. Harris Elementary School reports 96% of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals. That tracks the 98% average for public schools in Rutherford County.
allk12 grades Harris Elementary School an A. The grade compares the school only with North Carolina public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
A school in North Carolina with Harris Elementary School's free or reduced-price lunch share would be expected to score about 49.6%. Harris Elementary School scores 70.0%.
In the county around the school, Rutherford County, the median household income is $51,410, roughly 22% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 13% of residents live below the federal poverty line. There are 20 public schools in Rutherford County, enrolling about 9,205 students in all.
The closest public school, Chase Middle School, is about 3.0 miles from Harris Elementary School. There are 5 other public schools within five miles. Of the 7 nearby schools with scores, including this one, Harris Elementary School is 2nd on average proficiency.
Federal data place Harris Elementary School in the Rural: Fringe locale, which means it is in rural territory close to an urban area.
The school's size has been steady, with 431 students in 2020-21 and 434 in 2024-25. The ratio of students to teachers went from 14.9:1 to 16.1:1 over the same years.
The allk12 site hosts a discussion page for Harris Elementary School covering things like sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Rutherford County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
64,930
Census ACS
Median income
$51,410
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
22%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
13%
Below federal line
Schools in county
20
9,205 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Rutherford County Schools
- R-S Central High SchoolHigh · 763 students
- East Rutherford High SchoolHigh · 623 students
- Chase High SchoolHigh · 596 students
- Ellenboro Elementary SchoolElementary · 567 students
- R-S Middle SchoolMiddle · 561 students
- East Rutherford Middle SchoolMiddle · 533 students
Other schools in Forest City
- Chase High SchoolHigh · 596 students
- Chase Middle SchoolMiddle · 484 students
- Forrest W. Hunt Elementary SchoolElementary · 460 students
- Forest City-Dunbar Elementary SchoolElementary · 459 students
- Mt. Vernon-Ruth Elementary SchoolElementary · 231 students
- Rutherford Opportunity CenterHigh · 82 students
Other Harris Elementary schools
7 other US public schools in 7 states are named Harris Elementary. Harris Elementary School is the 3rd largest of the 8.
- Harris Elementary SchoolDuluth, GA · 642 students
- Harris Elementary SchoolHOUSTON, TX · 448 students
- HARRIS ELEM.ST CHARLES, MO · 408 students
- Harris Elementary SchoolMESA, AZ · 383 students
- Harris Elementary SchoolAUSTIN, TX · 285 students
Nearby schools
- Chase Middle School3.0 mi · 484
- Forrest W. Hunt Elementary School3.3 mi · 460
- Chase High School3.5 mi · 596
- Rutherford Early College High School4.3 mi · 208
- Rutherford Opportunity Center4.5 mi · 82
- Forest City-Dunbar Elementary School5.3 mi · 459
Frequently asked questions
About Harris Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Harris Elementary School?
Harris Elementary School enrolls approximately 434 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Harris Elementary School serve?
Harris Elementary School serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Harris Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Harris Elementary School is approximately 16.1:1 (27 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Harris Elementary School?
Harris Elementary School reports a student body of 85% White, 9% Hispanic, 1% Black, 0% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Who oversees Harris Elementary School?
Harris Elementary School is overseen by Rutherford County Schools in Rutherford County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.