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Alumni: what's one memory from Northwoods Elementary that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
579
Elementary
DISTRICT 594 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WAKE COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370472001884
Northwoods Elementary
8850 Chapel Hill Road, Cary, NC 27513 · (919) 460-3491 · Wake County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL579 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 63% 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.
- C+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
Student : Teacher
13.6:1
43 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.5:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
35%
203 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 | 19 | 3% |
| Kindergarten | 98 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 78 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 101 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 108 | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 96 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 79 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (98) is 24% larger than its 5th grade class (79).
Student demographics
76%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
67.1%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
71.8%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 67 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 72 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
68.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
68.1%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+0.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 69% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 68% 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 Northwoods Elementary
Northwoods Elementary's state test result (68.7% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwoods Elementary this school | 579 | 35.1% | 68.7% |
| Bryan Road Elementary Garner | 685 | 34.0% | 72.9% |
| Weatherstone Elementary Cary | 730 | 31.1% | 72.0% |
| Ballantyne Elementary Charlotte | 745 | 26.2% | 79.0% |
| McKee Road Elementary Charlotte | 534 | 27.3% | 86.1% |
| Woods Creek Elementary Holly Springs | 406 | 24.6% | 77.3% |
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 Northwoods Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Wake County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 68.7% | #263 of 1,297 | #52 of 120 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 71.8% | #291 of 1,296 | #45 of 120 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 67.1% | #178 of 1,300 | #42 of 121 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 579 | #401 of 1,485 | #75 of 139 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.6:1 | #368 of 1,377 | #60 of 137 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 75.8% | #14 of 1,379 | #2 of 137 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 35.1% | #1,257 of 1,414 | #74 of 128 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +10.1% | #188 of 369 | #23 of 33 |
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
579
-66 (-10%) vs 2020
-22% since 1990-91, when it was 738
Student : Teacher
13.6:1
was 13.7:1
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 | 579 | 42.6 | 13.6:1 | 35% (203) |
| 2023-24 | 618 | 41.5 | 14.9:1 | 31% (192) |
| 2022-23 | 621 | 44.5 | 14.0:1 | 29% (179) |
| 2020-21 | 645 | 47 | 13.7:1 | 24% (153) |
| 2017-18 | 526 | 35.5 | 14.8:1 | 35% (185) |
| 2015-16 | 500 | 35 | 14.3:1 | 39% (196) |
| 2010-11 | 537 | 39 | 13.8:1 | 38% (205) |
| 2000-01 | 668 | 43 | 15.5:1 | 15% (102) |
| 1990-91 | 738 | 68 | 10.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Northwoods Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 10% (526 to 579); teachers up 20% (35.5 to 42.6).
About Northwoods Elementary
Northwoods Elementary is a mid-sized elementary school in Cary, North Carolina, (ZIP code 27513). The school enrolls 579 students in pre-K through 5. Elementary schools in North Carolina average about 467 students, which makes this school 24% bigger than average.
Wake County Schools includes 198 schools. Together they enroll 163,176 students.
The largest racial or ethnic group at Northwoods Elementary is White, with 31% of students. Enrollment also includes 29% Asian, 20% Hispanic, 15% Black, and 6% multiracial. The school's White share is 27 points below the 58% share among Wake County residents. The diversity index for Northwoods Elementary is 76%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
The student-to-teacher ratio at Northwoods Elementary is 13.6:1, based on 42.6 full-time-equivalent teachers. Compared with the 14.9:1 average for elementary schools in North Carolina, this school's ratio is lower. Lunch program data show 35% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
On the allk12 Grade, Northwoods Elementary lands at B, ahead of 63% of North Carolina public elementary schools.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Northwoods Elementary would score about 68.1%. It scores 68.7%, within a point of that figure.
American Community Survey estimates for Wake County show that median household income comes to about $105,768, roughly 57% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Wake County counts 237 public schools with about 184,790 students.
West Cary Middle sits about 0.6 miles from Northwoods Elementary. Northwoods Elementary has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Compared with its nearest neighbors, Northwoods Elementary ranks 5th of 8 on average proficiency.
Federal data place Northwoods Elementary in the City: Mid-size locale, which means it is inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Enrollment was 579 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, it was 645.
Northwoods Elementary has a community page on allk12 for topics such as pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
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
Other Northwoods Elementary schools
2 other US public schools in 2 states are named Northwoods Elementary. Northwoods Elementary is the largest of the 3.
- Northwoods ElementaryJacksonville, NC · 439 students
- Northwoods ElementaryEau Claire, WI · 304 students
Nearby schools
- West Cary Middle0.6 mi · 824
- Cardinal Charter Academy0.6 mi · 584
- Kingswood Elementary0.7 mi · 427
- Cary Elementary1.1 mi · 477
- Weatherstone Elementary1.2 mi · 730
- Reedy Creek Middle1.7 mi · 805
Frequently asked questions
About Northwoods ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Northwoods Elementary?
Northwoods Elementary enrolls approximately 579 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Northwoods Elementary serve?
Northwoods Elementary serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Northwoods Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Northwoods Elementary is approximately 13.6:1 (43 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Northwoods Elementary?
At Northwoods Elementary, the student body is approximately 31% White, 20% Hispanic, 15% Black, 29% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Who oversees Northwoods Elementary?
Northwoods Elementary is overseen by Wake County Schools in Wake County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.