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What do students at Mars Hill Elementary actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
445
Elementary
DISTRICT 310 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MADISON COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370282001154
Mars Hill Elementary
200 School House Lane, Mars Hill, NC 28754 · (828) 689-2922 · Madison County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL445 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 52% of North Carolina public elementary schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats 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
Student : Teacher
13.5:1
33 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.0:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
99%
440 students
DISTRICT 97% · 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
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 56 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 72 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 73 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 85 | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 90 | 20% |
| Grade 5 | 69 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (56) is 19% smaller than its 5th grade class (69).
Student demographics
12%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 16% · STATE 71% · US 70%
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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Mars Hill Elementary→Madison Middle School
Based on grade levels within Madison County Schools. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
NC EOG / EOC 2024-25 . % Grade Level Proficient (Level 3+)English Language Arts
49.0%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
57.6%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 49 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 58 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 · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
54.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.6%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+6.3pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 55% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 49% 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 Mars Hill Elementary
Mars Hill Elementary's state test result (54.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mars Hill Elementary this school | 445 | 98.9% | 54.9% |
| Blue Ridge Elementary Burnsville | 382 | 98.4% | 54.1% |
| Rockwell Elementary Rockwell | 502 | 99.4% | 55.4% |
| Dudley Shoals Elementary Granite Falls | 433 | 99.3% | 55.7% |
| Murphy Elementary Murphy | 467 | 99.4% | 57.5% |
| Glenwood Elementary School Marion | 435 | 99.3% | 46.9% |
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 Mars Hill Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 54.9% | #665 of 1,297 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 57.6% | #678 of 1,296 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 49.0% | #654 of 1,300 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 445 | #768 of 1,485 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.5:1 | #338 of 1,377 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 11.6% | #1,375 of 1,379 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 98.9% | #714 of 1,414 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.8% | #643 of 937 |
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 2024-25Enrollment
445
-47 (-10%) vs 2020
-41% since 1990-91, when it was 751
Student : Teacher
13.5:1
was 14.1:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 445 | 33 | 13.5:1 | 99% (440) |
| 2023-24 | 477 | 32.5 | 14.7:1 | 99% (474) |
| 2022-23 | 500 | 36.2 | 13.8:1 | 53% (264) |
| 2020-21 | 492 | 35 | 14.1:1 | 49% (240) |
| 2017-18 | 488 | 33.7 | 14.5:1 | 49% (240) |
| 2015-16 | 506 | 32 | 15.8:1 | 50% (255) |
| 2010-11 | 513 | 33 | 15.6:1 | 58% (299) |
| 2000-01 | 534 | 33 | 16.2:1 | 45% (238) |
| 1990-91 | 751 | 39 | 19.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Mars Hill Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 9% (488 to 445); teachers down 2% (33.7 to 33).
About Mars Hill Elementary
The public elementary school Mars Hill Elementary is located in Mars Hill, North Carolina. It offers kindergarten through 5 and has 445 students enrolled.
District-wide, Madison County Schools has 7 schools and 2,063 students.
A large majority of enrollment at Mars Hill Elementary is White, at 94%. Beyond that, enrollment is 3% multiracial. Among Madison County residents, the White share is about 92%. The diversity index for Mars Hill Elementary is 12%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
The school had 33 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 13.5:1. By comparison, the average for elementary schools in North Carolina is 14.9:1. The school reported 99% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25. The figure for public schools in Madison County is close, at 99%.
Mars Hill Elementary earns a B- on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 52% of North Carolina public elementary schools.
The model predicts 48.6% for a school in North Carolina with Mars Hill Elementary's free or reduced-price lunch share. Mars Hill Elementary posts 54.9%.
Five-year Census Bureau estimates for Madison County show that median household income comes to about $58,531, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 32% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 9%. Madison County counts 7 public schools with about 2,063 students.
North Buncombe Elementary, about 6.2 miles away, is the closest public school. Within ten miles of Mars Hill Elementary, there are at least 8 other public schools. On average proficiency, Mars Hill Elementary is 7th of 8 nearby schools with test data.
NCES assigns Mars Hill Elementary the locale Rural: Fringe, meaning in rural territory close to an urban area.
By 2024-25, enrollment had dropped to 445, from 492 in 2020-21.
Anyone can start a thread about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies at Mars Hill Elementary. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Madison County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
21,867
Census ACS
Median income
$58,531
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
32%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
7
2,063 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Madison County Schools
- Madison Middle SchoolMiddle · 468 students
- Madison High SchoolHigh · 377 students
- Brush Creek ElementaryElementary · 356 students
- Madison Early College HighHigh · 270 students
- Hot Springs ElementaryElementary · 128 students
- Madison Velocity Learning CenterHigh · 19 students
Nearby schools
- North Buncombe Elementary6.2 mi · 593
- North Buncombe High6.6 mi · 896
- Barnardsville Elementary6.6 mi · 125
- Madison Velocity Learning Center6.9 mi · 19
- Madison High School6.9 mi · 377
- Madison Early College High7.0 mi · 270
Frequently asked questions
About Mars Hill ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Mars Hill Elementary?
Mars Hill Elementary enrolls approximately 445 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does Mars Hill Elementary serve?
Mars Hill Elementary serves grades KG-05.
How many teachers does Mars Hill Elementary have?
Mars Hill Elementary employs 33 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 13.5:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Mars Hill Elementary?
At Mars Hill Elementary, the student body is approximately 94% White, 2% Hispanic, 0% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Is Mars Hill Elementary public or private?
Mars Hill Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Madison County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.