Margaret Willis Elementary

Margaret Willis Elementary, a modestly sized K-5 school in Fayetteville, North Carolina, operated by Cumberland County Schools, caters to 296 students, covering grades pre-K through 5. That puts it 37% smaller than the typical public school in North Carolina, which averages around 467 students.

Cumberland County Schools runs 86 schools in total, collectively educating 49,002 students. Margaret Willis Elementary is one of those campuses.

Looking at the student body, Margaret Willis Elementary reports that Black students make up the majority at 65%; the rest breaks down as 15% multiracial, 10% Hispanic, 9% White. By comparison, Cumberland County as a whole is about 38% Black, so the school skews visibly more Black than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, On paper, Margaret Willis Elementary has 23 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 13.0:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 14.9:1 average. About 98% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, Cumberland County runs at roughly 86%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat above the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Margaret Willis Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 49.0%, the actual is 43.1%, a residual of -5.9 points.

In the area at large, ACS estimates for Cumberland County put median household earnings sit near $61,291, roughly 28% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 13% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Cumberland County's 89 public schools (combined enrollment of about 50,815 students), Margaret Willis Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Cumberland International Early College, around 0.5 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Margaret Willis Elementary comes 2nd of 5 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 51.2%.

Geographically, the school is in an inner-city area.

Five-year trend. Margaret Willis Elementary's enrollment has contracted 4% since 2018, when it stood at 308 (now 296). Class-load math has loosened: from 11.8:1 in 2018 to 13.0:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the feed for Margaret Willis Elementary typically covers science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.