Manchester Elementary

Manchester Elementary is a small elementary school in Spring Lake, North Carolina, overseen by Cumberland County Schools. The school serves 254 students in grades K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 467 students per school, that is 46% leaner than typical.

Within Cumberland County Schools, which oversees 86 schools and 49,002 students, Manchester Elementary is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, Manchester Elementary logs that 55% of students identify as Black, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups; the rest reads as 18% Hispanic, 15% White, 10% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 38% Black, putting the school's mix meaningfully more Black than the area baseline.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 18 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 14.1:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 14.9:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 99% of students at Manchester Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is north of Cumberland County's rate of about 86%.

With demographic context factored in, Manchester Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 48.7%, the actual is 44.1%, a residual of -4.5 points.

In the broader community, Cumberland County reports that the typical household earns roughly $61,291 per year, 28% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 13%. Across Cumberland County's 89 public schools (combined enrollment of about 50,815 students), Manchester Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Spring Lake Middle, around 0.2 miles off. Within five miles, there are 6 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Manchester Elementary at 4th of 9; the average score across the group is 45.7%.

The campus sits in a residential setting.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Manchester Elementary has edged down 31%, going from 368 students in 2018 to 254 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 14% to 18% across the same window.

Inside the community feed, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.