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What's the most underrated thing about Mills Park Elementary that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
594
Elementary
DISTRICT 594 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WAKE COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370472003012
Mills Park Elementary
509 Mills Park Dr, Cary, NC 27519 · (919) 466-1466 · Wake County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL594 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 98% 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.
- ABeats 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
14.2:1
42 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.5:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
18%
105 students
DISTRICT 47% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 15 | 3% |
| Kindergarten | 73 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 75 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 93 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 115 | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 110 | 19% |
| Grade 5 | 113 | 19% |
This year's kindergarten class (73) is 35% smaller than its 5th grade class (113).
Student demographics
65%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 73% · 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
Based on published attendance-zone data from Wake County Schools. Zones change; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
NC EOG / EOC 2024-25 . % Grade Level Proficient (Level 3+)English Language Arts
84.7%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
91.2%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 85 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 91 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
88.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
73.5%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+15.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 89% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 73% 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 Mills Park Elementary
Mills Park Elementary's state test result (88.9% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mills Park Elementary this school | 594 | 17.7% | 88.9% |
| Green Hope Elementary Cary | 548 | 14.4% | 85.0% |
| Peak Charter Academy Apex | 651 | 14.9% | N/A |
| Parkside Elementary Morrisville | 730 | 21.9% | 80.8% |
| Hortons Creek Elementary Cary | 739 | 11.5% | 88.4% |
| Highcroft Elementary Cary | 698 | 9.2% | 87.2% |
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 Mills Park Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Wake County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 88.9% | #8 of 1,297 | #1 of 120 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 91.2% | #15 of 1,296 | #3 of 120 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 84.7% | #13 of 1,300 | #3 of 121 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 594 | #361 of 1,485 | #69 of 139 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.2:1 | #535 of 1,377 | #88 of 137 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 65.2% | #464 of 1,379 | #66 of 137 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 17.7% | #1,373 of 1,414 | #112 of 128 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -38.6% | #26 of 937 | #2 of 91 |
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
594
-197 (-25%) vs 2020
-37% since 2010-11, when it was 947
Student : Teacher
14.2:1
was 15.2:1
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 | 594 | 41.8 | 14.2:1 | 18% (105) |
| 2023-24 | 645 | 46.8 | 13.8:1 | 13% (87) |
| 2022-23 | 702 | 49.7 | 14.1:1 | 14% (95) |
| 2020-21 | 791 | 52 | 15.2:1 | 6% (44) |
| 2017-18 | 968 | 55.7 | 17.4:1 | 5% (53) |
| 2015-16 | 1,018 | 62 | 16.4:1 | 7% (74) |
| 2010-11 | 947 | 54 | 17.5:1 | 13% (125) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Mills Park Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 39% (968 to 594); teachers down 25% (55.7 to 41.8).
About Mills Park Elementary
Mills Park Elementary is an elementary school in Cary, North Carolina, reachable at (919) 466-1466. The school enrolls 594 students, from pre-K through 5. An average school in this group (elementary schools in North Carolina) has about 467 students.
Across its 198 schools, Wake County Schools enrolls 163,176 students. Mills Park Elementary is one of those schools.
No single group makes up more than half of enrollment at Mills Park Elementary. The largest is Asian students, at 47%. The remaining students are 33% White, 14% Hispanic, and 5% Black. Census figures show Wake County is about 9% Asian. Mills Park Elementary's diversity index is 65%, against a US figure of 70%.
Mills Park Elementary's 41.8 full-time-equivalent teachers put its ratio at 14.2:1. That is close to the 14.9:1 average for elementary schools in North Carolina. The school's rate of free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 18%. The 42% average for public schools in Wake County is 24 points higher.
Measured against North Carolina public elementary schools, Mills Park Elementary receives an A+. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Mills Park Elementary sits between the top and bottom 10% of North Carolina schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate on state tests of 88.9% and a predicted 73.5%.
Census estimates describe Wake County this way: the median household income is $105,768, 57% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Besides Mills Park Elementary, Wake County has 236 other public schools.
The closest public school, Mills Park Middle, is about 0.1 miles from Mills Park Elementary. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Among the 8 closest schools with test data, this one included, Mills Park Elementary ranks 2nd on average proficiency.
NCES assigns Mills Park Elementary the locale City: Mid-size, meaning inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Mills Park Elementary's enrollment declined from 791 in 2020-21 to 594 in 2024-25.
The allk12 site hosts a discussion page for Mills Park Elementary covering things like sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Wake County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,178,653
Census ACS
Median income
$105,768
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
57%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
237
184,790 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Wake County Schools
- Apex Friendship HighHigh · 2,748 students
- Enloe HighHigh · 2,643 students
- Panther Creek HighHigh · 2,609 students
- Millbrook HighHigh · 2,498 students
- Apex HighHigh · 2,449 students
- Leesville Road HighHigh · 2,411 students
Other schools in Cary
- Panther Creek HighHigh · 2,609 students
- Green Hope HighHigh · 2,304 students
- Green Level HighHigh · 2,283 students
- Cary HighHigh · 2,044 students
- Triangle Math and Science AcademyCombined · 1,904 students
- Mills Park MiddleMiddle · 1,632 students
Nearby schools
- Mills Park Middle0.1 mi · 1,632
- Highcroft Elementary1.0 mi · 698
- Panther Creek High1.4 mi · 2,609
- Carpenter Elementary1.7 mi · 604
- Green Hope High1.7 mi · 2,304
- Green Hope Elementary2.1 mi · 548
Frequently asked questions
About Mills Park ElementaryHow many students attend Mills Park Elementary?
Mills Park Elementary enrolls approximately 594 students in grades PK-05.
Is Mills Park Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Mills Park Elementary is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many teachers does Mills Park Elementary have?
Mills Park Elementary employs 42 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.2:1.
What is the student diversity at Mills Park Elementary?
Student demographics at Mills Park Elementary are roughly 33% White, 14% Hispanic, 5% Black, 47% Asian, 2% Two or more.
What district is Mills Park Elementary in?
Mills Park Elementary is part of Wake County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.