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What's something Highcroft Elementary does better than most schools?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
698
Elementary
DISTRICT 594 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WAKE COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370472002743
Highcroft Elementary
5415 Highcroft Drive, Cary, NC 27519 · (919) 460-3527 · Wake County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL698 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.7:1
45 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.5:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
9%
64 students
DISTRICT 47% · 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 | 14 | 2% |
| Kindergarten | 88 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 98 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 111 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 112 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 119 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 156 | 22% |
This year's kindergarten class (88) is 44% smaller than its 5th grade class (156).
Student demographics
64%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 73% · 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
82.6%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
91.7%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 83 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 92 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
87.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
76.0%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+11.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 87% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 76% 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 Highcroft Elementary
Highcroft Elementary's state test result (87.2% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highcroft Elementary this school | 698 | 9.2% | 87.2% |
| Hortons Creek Elementary Cary | 739 | 11.5% | 88.4% |
| Morrisville Elementary Morrisville | 643 | 13.2% | 80.2% |
| Davis Drive Elementary Cary | 794 | 9.2% | 88.3% |
| Green Hope Elementary Cary | 548 | 14.4% | 85.0% |
| W R Odell Primary Concord | 938 | 14.4% | N/A |
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 Highcroft Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Wake County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 87.2% | #21 of 1,297 | #5 of 120 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 91.7% | #12 of 1,296 | #2 of 120 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 82.6% | #28 of 1,300 | #8 of 121 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 698 | #183 of 1,485 | #37 of 139 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.7:1 | #934 of 1,377 | #126 of 137 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 63.9% | #532 of 1,379 | #79 of 137 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 9.2% | #1,404 of 1,414 | #125 of 128 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -27.6% | #120 of 937 | #11 of 91 |
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
698
-125 (-15%) vs 2020
-11% since 2010-11, when it was 785
Student : Teacher
15.7:1
was 15.5:1
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 | 698 | 44.5 | 15.7:1 | 9% (64) |
| 2023-24 | 699 | 48 | 14.6:1 | 8% (55) |
| 2022-23 | 721 | 50 | 14.4:1 | 7% (50) |
| 2020-21 | 823 | 53 | 15.5:1 | 4% (37) |
| 2017-18 | 964 | 57.7 | 16.7:1 | 4% (42) |
| 2015-16 | 1,026 | 62 | 16.6:1 | 5% (53) |
| 2010-11 | 785 | 46 | 17.1:1 | 5% (41) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Highcroft Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 28% (964 to 698); teachers down 23% (57.7 to 44.5).
About Highcroft Elementary
Highcroft Elementary is a medium-sized elementary school based in Cary, North Carolina. It enrolled 698 students in pre-K through 5 for the 2024-25 school year. Statewide, elementary schools in North Carolina average about 467 students each.
Wake County Schools has 163,176 students spread across 198 schools.
By race and ethnicity, Highcroft Elementary is 51% Asian. The rest of enrollment is 30% White, 7% multiracial, 6% Hispanic, and 6% Black. Census estimates put the Asian share of Wake County's population at about 9%. Highcroft Elementary has a diversity index of 64%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Federal data list 44.5 full-time-equivalent teachers at Highcroft Elementary in 2024-25, for a ratio of 15.7:1. The average ratio among elementary schools in North Carolina is 14.9:1, lower than at this school. The school's rate of free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 9%. Public schools in Wake County average 42%.
BeatsExpectations compares each school's average proficiency rate on state tests with a prediction based on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. For Highcroft Elementary, the prediction is 76.0% and the result is 87.2%.
Across Wake County, median household income is about $105,768, about 57% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 5%. Highcroft Elementary is among the 237 public schools in Wake County.
The shortest distance from Highcroft Elementary to another public school is about 1.0 miles, to Mills Park Elementary. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. On state test proficiency, Highcroft Elementary ranks 3rd in a group of 9 nearby schools.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as City: Mid-size, meaning it is inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
A comparison of 2020-21 and 2024-25 shows enrollment down 15%, from 823 to 698.
Conversations here can range across sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Wake County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,178,653
Census ACS
Median income
$105,768
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
57%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
237
184,790 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Wake County Schools
- Apex Friendship HighHigh · 2,748 students
- Enloe HighHigh · 2,643 students
- Panther Creek HighHigh · 2,609 students
- Millbrook HighHigh · 2,498 students
- Apex HighHigh · 2,449 students
- Leesville Road HighHigh · 2,411 students
Other schools in Cary
- Panther Creek HighHigh · 2,609 students
- Green Hope HighHigh · 2,304 students
- Green Level HighHigh · 2,283 students
- Cary HighHigh · 2,044 students
- Triangle Math and Science AcademyCombined · 1,904 students
- Mills Park MiddleMiddle · 1,632 students
Nearby schools
- Mills Park Elementary1.0 mi · 594
- Green Hope High1.0 mi · 2,304
- Mills Park Middle1.1 mi · 1,632
- Green Hope Elementary1.4 mi · 548
- Carpenter Elementary1.4 mi · 604
- Turner Creek Elementary2.0 mi · 638
Frequently asked questions
About Highcroft ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Highcroft Elementary?
Highcroft Elementary enrolls approximately 698 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Highcroft Elementary serve?
Highcroft Elementary serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Highcroft Elementary?
Approximately 15.7:1 students per teacher at Highcroft Elementary.
What is the student diversity at Highcroft Elementary?
Student demographics at Highcroft Elementary are roughly 30% White, 6% Hispanic, 6% Black, 51% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Is Highcroft Elementary public or private?
Highcroft Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Wake County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.