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Schools›North Carolina›Waxhaw
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·UNION COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 370462002798

Kensington Elementary

8701 Kensington Drive, Waxhaw, NC 28173 · (704) 290-1500 · Union County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL901 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 88% of North Carolina public elementary schools
  • A+Test 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

Enrollment
901
Elementary
DISTRICT 563 · STATE 467
Student : Teacher
15.8:1
57 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.2:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
12%
108 students
DISTRICT 50% · 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

GradeStudentsShare
Kindergarten10111%
Grade 111012%
Grade 212814%
Grade 318220%
Grade 417519%
Grade 520523%

This year's kindergarten class (101) is 51% smaller than its 5th grade class (205).

Student demographics
53%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 66% · STATE 71% · US 70%
White
59566%
DISTRICT 52% · STATE 42% · US 43%
Hispanic
9310%
DISTRICT 22% · STATE 22% · US 30%
Black
617%
DISTRICT 12% · STATE 25% · US 15%
Asian
9911%
DISTRICT 9% · STATE 4% · US 6%
Two+
485%
DISTRICT 5% · STATE 6% · US 5%
Native American
40%
DISTRICT 0% · STATE 1% · US 1%
Pacific Islander
10%
DISTRICT 0% · STATE 0% · US 0%
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
Male
47152%
Female
43048%

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Test scores

NC EOG / EOC 2024-25 . % Grade Level Proficient (Level 3+)
English Language Arts
79.3%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
86.3%
NC avg 52.2%

What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 79 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 86 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 · methodology
Tier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
83.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
75.2%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.3pp
above demographic expectation

What this means: About 84% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 75% 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 Kensington Elementary

Kensington Elementary's state test result (83.5% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.

SchoolStudentsLow-incomeProficient
Kensington Elementary this school90112.0%83.5%
Oakview Elementary
Apex
87311.9%80.5%
Antioch Elementary
Matthews
8168.9%87.5%
Holly Grove Elementary
Holly Springs
88913.3%83.2%
Elizabeth Lane Elementary
Matthews
70215.5%83.9%
New Town Elementary
Waxhaw
69110.9%87.0%
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 Kensington Elementary ranks

Among elementary schools
MeasureThis schoolIn North CarolinaIn Union County
State test proficiency
ranked highest first
83.5%#41 of 1,297#8 of 29
Math proficiency
ranked highest first
86.3%#50 of 1,296#6 of 27
Reading proficiency
ranked highest first
79.3%#50 of 1,300#8 of 29
Enrollment
ranked largest first
901#30 of 1,485#1 of 32
Students per teacher
ranked fewest first
15.8:1#966 of 1,377#26 of 31
Diversity index
ranked most diverse first
53.4%#919 of 1,379#21 of 31
Free and reduced lunch
ranked highest share first
12.0%#1,396 of 1,414#24 of 30
Enrollment change since 2017-18
ranked fastest growth first
+17.0%#120 of 369#6 of 12
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 2024-25
Enrollment
901
-79 (-8%) vs 2020
+22% since 2010-11, when it was 737
Student : Teacher
15.8:1
was 16.9:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Enrollment and staffing by year

School yearStudentsTeachers (FTE)Students per teacherFree and reduced lunch
2024-259015715.8:112% (108)
2023-2497556.517.3:111% (111)
2022-231,0325917.5:19% (92)
2020-219805816.9:14% (41)
2017-187704616.7:18% (58)
2015-167274217.3:17% (53)
2010-117374317.1:111% (80)
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Kensington Elementary.

Since 2017-18: students up 17% (770 to 901); teachers up 24% (46 to 57).

About Kensington Elementary

Kensington Elementary is a large elementary school with an address in Waxhaw, North Carolina. The school runs kindergarten through 5 and enrolls 901 students. By comparison, elementary schools in North Carolina enroll about 467 students on average.

Enrollment across the 52 schools in Union County Public Schools totals 41,272 students.

The student body at Kensington Elementary is 66% White. After that, the student body is 11% Asian, 10% Hispanic, 7% Black, and 5% multiracial. Among Union County residents, the White share is about 69%. A diversity index of 53% means there is a 53% chance two randomly chosen students at Kensington Elementary are from different groups.

Teacher count: 57 full-time equivalents. Student-to-teacher ratio: 15.8:1. The average for elementary schools in North Carolina, 14.9:1, is lower. Roughly 12% of students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The average for public schools in Union County is 41%.

On the allk12 Grade, Kensington Elementary lands at A, ahead of 88% of North Carolina public elementary schools.

Schools in North Carolina with a similar free or reduced-price lunch share are predicted to score about 75.2%. Kensington Elementary scores 83.5%.

Union County is the school's county. There, the median household earns about $102,900 a year, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 41% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 6%. Kensington Elementary shares Union County with 57 other public schools.

A public school about 2.2 miles away, Sandy Ridge Elementary, is the closest to Kensington Elementary. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. The school's 83.5% average proficiency ranks 5th among 7 nearby schools.

Federal records code the school's setting as Suburb: Large.

In 2024-25, the school enrolled 901, down from 980 in 2020-21. By 2024-25, the school had 15.8 students per teacher, compared with 16.9 in 2020-21.

Kensington Elementary has a community page on allk12 for topics such as pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. You can also rate the school on this page.

Union County at a glance

View full county profile
Population
250,958
Census ACS
Median income
$102,900
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
41%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
58
45,934 students

Quick facts

School name
Kensington Elementary
District
Union County Public Schools
Address
8701 Kensington Drive, Waxhaw, NC 28173
Phone
(704) 290-1500
County
Union County
Level
Elementary
Grade range
KG–05
Total enrollment
901
Teachers (FTE)
57
Student–teacher ratio
15.8:1
Free and reduced lunch
108 (12%)
Locale
21-Suburb: Large
NCES ID
370462002798
Charter school
No
Virtual school
No

Related schools

Other schools in Union County Public Schools
Other schools in Waxhaw
Other Kensington Elementary schools

3 other US public schools in 4 states are named Kensington Elementary. Kensington Elementary is the largest of the 4.

Nearby schools

Frequently asked questions

About Kensington Elementary
How many students attend Kensington Elementary?
Kensington Elementary enrolls approximately 901 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does Kensington Elementary serve?
Kensington Elementary serves grades KG-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Kensington Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Kensington Elementary is approximately 15.8:1 (57 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Kensington Elementary?
At Kensington Elementary, the student body is approximately 66% White, 10% Hispanic, 7% Black, 11% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is Kensington Elementary public or private?
Kensington Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Union County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.
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