Junaluska Elementary

Junaluska Elementary is an elementary school of medium-sized scale in Waynesville, North Carolina, operated by Haywood County Schools, hosting 428 students in grades K through 5.

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

Looking at the student body, Junaluska Elementary logs that 83% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. Other groups include 9% Hispanic, 6% multiracial. That is meaningfully less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 91%.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 27 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 15.6:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 14.9:1, putting Junaluska Elementary higher than the state norm the norm. About 99% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Junaluska Elementary is in the OUTPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations model, which fits a per-state line through proficiency and FRL share. Schools with this campus's poverty mix typically land near 48.5%; this one delivers 73.6%, a residual of +25.1 points.

In the area at large, Haywood County reports that the typical household earns roughly $61,912 per year, roughly 30% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 9%. Junaluska Elementary is one of 16 public schools in Haywood County (combined enrollment of about 7,092 students).

Tuscola High is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.2 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Junaluska Elementary. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Junaluska Elementary at 1st of 6; the average score across the group is 57.2%.

The campus sits in a countryside setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count contracted 3%: 440 students in 2018 compared to 428 in 2025.

On this page, the feed for Junaluska Elementary typically covers open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.