Enrollment
356
Elementary
DISTRICT 457 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·GASTON COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370162003409
Hawks Nest STEAM Academy
3430 Robinwood Rd, Gastonia, NC 28054 · (704) 866-8467 · Gaston County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL356 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 86% of North Carolina public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+Beats 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
14.8:1
24 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.3:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
36%
128 students
DISTRICT 88% · STATE 82%
Community
0
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 59 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 59 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 59 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 60 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 59 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 60 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (59) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (60).
Student demographics
60%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 69% · 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
71.3%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
82.0%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 71 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 82 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
78.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
67.9%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+10.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 78% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 68% typical for North Carolina schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among North Carolina's top nor bottom 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 Hawks Nest STEAM Academy
Hawks Nest STEAM Academy's state test result (78.0% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawks Nest STEAM Academy this school | 356 | 36.0% | 78.0% |
| Eastover Elementary Charlotte | 385 | 32.2% | 79.3% |
| Underwood Elementary Raleigh | 405 | 29.9% | 72.7% |
| Isaac Dickson Elementary Asheville | 390 | 41.0% | 63.9% |
| J B Page Primary School Belmont | 396 | 34.6% | N/A |
| Claxton Elementary Asheville | 405 | 37.8% | 66.7% |
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 Hawks Nest STEAM Academy ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Gaston County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 78.0% | #97 of 1,297 | #1 of 27 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 82.0% | #93 of 1,296 | #1 of 27 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 71.3% | #118 of 1,300 | #1 of 27 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 356 | #1,028 of 1,485 | #24 of 31 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.8:1 | #681 of 1,377 | #13 of 29 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 60.4% | #692 of 1,379 | #20 of 29 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 36.0% | #1,248 of 1,414 | #28 of 31 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +2.3% | #324 of 369 | #5 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
356
+48 (+16%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
14.8:1
was 12.3:1
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 | 356 | 24.1 | 14.8:1 | 36% (128) |
| 2023-24 | 351 | 24 | 14.6:1 | 39% (136) |
| 2022-23 | 347 | 22.2 | 15.6:1 | 37% (128) |
| 2020-21 | 308 | 25 | 12.3:1 | 20% (61) |
| 2017-18 | 348 | 22.9 | 15.2:1 | 29% (100) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Hawks Nest STEAM Academy.
Since 2017-18: students up 2% (348 to 356); teachers up 6% (22.9 to 24.1).
About Hawks Nest STEAM Academy
This page covers Hawks Nest STEAM Academy, a small elementary school in Gastonia, North Carolina. Federal data show 356 students enrolled in kindergarten through 5 in 2024-25. That compares with an average of about 467 students for elementary schools in North Carolina.
The 56 schools in Gaston County Schools enroll 30,995 students altogether, Hawks Nest STEAM Academy among them.
More than half of enrollment at Hawks Nest STEAM Academy is White: 57%. The remaining shares are 23% Black, 10% Hispanic, 5% multiracial, and 4% Asian. Gaston County as a whole is about 68% White, so the school's share is lower. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Hawks Nest STEAM Academy scores 60%.
Hawks Nest STEAM Academy has 24.1 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of about 14.8:1. The 14.9:1 average for elementary schools in North Carolina is close to this figure. A common income measure, free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, is 36% at Hawks Nest STEAM Academy. The rate at public schools in Gaston County averages 85%, higher than here.
Among North Carolina public elementary schools, Hawks Nest STEAM Academy outscored 86%, which works out to an A on the allk12 Grade.
Test results at Hawks Nest STEAM Academy are 10.1 points above what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (78.0% actual, 67.9% predicted).
Looking at the county, Gaston County, median household income comes to about $67,478, about 27% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 10% of residents are in poverty. The county has 61 public schools and about 35,898 students.
Robinson Elementary is about 0.2 miles from Hawks Nest STEAM Academy, the shortest distance to any other public school. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Hawks Nest STEAM Academy places 1st of 8 on proficiency among the closest schools that report scores.
The school's federal locale classification is City: Small.
Since 2020-21, enrollment has grown 16%, from 308 to 356. From 2020-21 to 2024-25, the ratio increased from 12.3:1 to 14.8:1.
Anyone can start a thread about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures at Hawks Nest STEAM Academy. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Gaston County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
234,881
Census ACS
Median income
$67,478
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
27%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
61
35,898 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Gaston County Schools
- Ashbrook HighHigh · 1,386 students
- Hunter Huss HighHigh · 1,165 students
- Forestview HighHigh · 1,133 students
- North Gaston HighHigh · 1,061 students
- South Point HighHigh · 989 students
- Cramerton MiddleMiddle · 959 students
Other schools in Gastonia
- Piedmont Community Charter SchoolCombined · 1,963 students
- Ashbrook HighHigh · 1,386 students
- Hunter Huss HighHigh · 1,165 students
- Forestview HighHigh · 1,133 students
- Pleasant Ridge ElementaryElementary · 887 students
- Southwest MiddleMiddle · 832 students
Nearby schools
- Robinson Elementary0.2 mi · 420
- Piedmont Community Charter School1.0 mi · 1,963
- H H Beam Elementary2.4 mi · 591
- Sherwood Elementary2.4 mi · 553
- W A Bess Elementary School2.4 mi · 674
- Lingerfeldt Elementary2.5 mi · 450
Frequently asked questions
About Hawks Nest STEAM AcademyHow large is Hawks Nest STEAM Academy?
Hawks Nest STEAM Academy enrolls approximately 356 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Hawks Nest STEAM Academy serve?
Hawks Nest STEAM Academy serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Hawks Nest STEAM Academy?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Hawks Nest STEAM Academy is approximately 14.8:1 (24 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Hawks Nest STEAM Academy?
At Hawks Nest STEAM Academy, the student body is approximately 57% White, 10% Hispanic, 23% Black, 4% Asian, 5% Two or more.
What district is Hawks Nest STEAM Academy in?
Hawks Nest STEAM Academy is part of Gaston County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.