Hazelwood Elementary

Hazelwood Elementary, a mid-tier elementary school in Waynesville, North Carolina, part of Haywood County Schools, hosts 490 students, covering grades pre-K through 5.

Within Haywood County Schools, which oversees 15 schools and 6,476 students, Hazelwood Elementary is one campus in the system.

Looking at the student body, Hazelwood Elementary records that nearly all students (81%) are White. Other groups include 14% Hispanic, 3% multiracial. By comparison, Haywood County as a whole is about 91% White, so the school skews considerably less White than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, The school employs 29 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 16.7:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 14.9:1 average. Around 99% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Hazelwood Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 48.7%; this one delivers 61.8%.

Around the school, census data for Haywood County shows the typical household earns roughly $61,912 per year, 30% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 9%. Hazelwood Elementary is one of 16 public schools in Haywood County (combined enrollment of about 7,092 students).

Waynesville Middle is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.1 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 6 other public schools cluster around Hazelwood Elementary. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Hazelwood Elementary at 3rd of 6; the average score across the group is 64.0%.

Hazelwood Elementary operates from a small-town location.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Hazelwood Elementary has shrank 21%, going from 624 students in 2018 to 490 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, posts here usually surface around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.