John Small Elementary

John Small Elementary is one of the small elementary schools in Washington, North Carolina, one of the schools within Beaufort County Schools, with 379 students on its rolls from grades 4 through 5.

Within Beaufort County Schools, which oversees 13 schools and 5,601 students, John Small Elementary is one campus in the system.

In terms of who attends, John Small Elementary shows that 46% of students identify as Black, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. The remainder reads as 27% White, 21% Hispanic, 5% multiracial. By comparison, Beaufort County as a whole is about 23% Black, so the school skews noticeably more Black than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, On paper, John Small Elementary has 21 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 18.4:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 14.9:1, putting John Small Elementary higher than the state norm the norm. An estimated 99% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, John Small Elementary tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 48.5% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 41.8%.

In the broader community, census data for Beaufort County shows the typical household earns roughly $58,357 per year, 21% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 13%. Across Beaufort County's 15 public schools (combined enrollment of about 6,030 students), John Small Elementary is one campus in the mix.

P S Jones Middle is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.1 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 4 other public schools cluster around John Small Elementary. On composite proficiency, John Small Elementary comes 6th of 7 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 60.2%.

Geographically, the school is in a low-density area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at John Small Elementary has ticked down 29%, going from 535 students in 2018 to 379 in 2025. Black enrollment moved from 38% to 46% across the same window. Class-load math has rose: from 14.1:1 in 2018 to 18.4:1 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.