1
What's one community event at Penderlea Elementary more people should show up to?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
468
Elementary
DISTRICT 559 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PENDER COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370357001467
Penderlea Elementary
11 Garden Road, Willard, NC 28478 · (910) 285-2761 · Pender County
GRADES KG–08ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL468 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 33% of North Carolina public elementary schools
- CTest 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
14.2:1
33 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.8:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
99%
465 students
DISTRICT 82% · 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 | 37 | 8% |
| Grade 1 | 51 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 45 | 10% |
| Grade 3 | 53 | 11% |
| Grade 4 | 39 | 8% |
| Grade 5 | 68 | 15% |
| Grade 6 | 59 | 13% |
| Grade 7 | 65 | 14% |
| Grade 8 | 51 | 11% |
This year's kindergarten class (37) is 27% smaller than its 8th grade class (51).
Student demographics
66%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · 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
Test scores
NC EOG / EOC 2024-25 . % Grade Level Proficient (Level 3+)English Language Arts
40.9%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
53.9%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 41 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 54 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
47.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.5%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 47% 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 Penderlea Elementary
Penderlea Elementary's state test result (47.5% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penderlea Elementary this school | 468 | 99.4% | 47.5% |
| Castle Hayne Elementary Castle Hayne | 531 | 99.4% | 65.6% |
| Fremont STARS Elementary Fremont | 535 | 99.4% | 51.3% |
| Cash Elementary Kernersville | 520 | 99.4% | 64.2% |
| Brinson Memorial Elementary New Bern | 446 | 97.5% | 57.9% |
| G R Whitfield Grimesland | 560 | 99.5% | 67.8% |
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 Penderlea Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Pender County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 47.5% | #889 of 1,297 | #6 of 9 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 53.9% | #792 of 1,296 | #6 of 9 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 40.9% | #920 of 1,300 | #6 of 9 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 468 | #702 of 1,485 | #8 of 9 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.2:1 | #520 of 1,377 | #2 of 9 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 65.8% | #434 of 1,379 | #3 of 9 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 99.4% | #326 of 1,414 | #4 of 9 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.7% | #679 of 937 | N/A |
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
468
-31 (-6%) vs 2020
+5% since 1990-91, when it was 447
Student : Teacher
14.2:1
was 14.3:1
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 | 468 | 33 | 14.2:1 | 99% (465) |
| 2023-24 | 484 | 35 | 13.8:1 | 99% (481) |
| 2022-23 | 495 | 35 | 14.1:1 | 72% (354) |
| 2020-21 | 499 | 35 | 14.3:1 | 60% (297) |
| 2017-18 | 507 | 31.4 | 16.1:1 | 58% (292) |
| 2015-16 | 518 | 32 | 16.2:1 | 61% (315) |
| 2010-11 | 536 | 32 | 16.8:1 | 61% (328) |
| 2000-01 | 553 | 38 | 14.6:1 | 56% (312) |
| 1990-91 | 447 | 29 | 15.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Penderlea Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (507 to 468); teachers up 5% (31.4 to 33).
About Penderlea Elementary
Federal records list Penderlea Elementary as an elementary school in Willard, North Carolina. Students in kindergarten through 8 make up the school's enrollment of 468 students.
The district, Pender County Schools, has 11,073 students enrolled across 19 schools.
The largest group at Penderlea Elementary is White students, at 50%. The remaining students are 23% Hispanic, 18% Black, and 7% multiracial. Among people living in Pender County, the White share is about 75%. The diversity index for Penderlea Elementary is 66%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
The school's 33 full-time-equivalent teachers translate to a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.2:1. The 14.9:1 average for elementary schools in North Carolina is close to this figure. Income data for the school show 99% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. It compares with 70% for public schools in Pender County.
Penderlea Elementary earns a C on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 33% of North Carolina public elementary schools.
The school's average proficiency rate across its state test results is 47.5%. For its free or reduced-price lunch share, the predicted value is 48.5%.
In the wider Pender County area, median household income comes to about $80,396, roughly 31% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Pender County's 19 public schools enroll about 11,073 students and include Penderlea Elementary.
Penderlea Elementary's nearest public school is Wallace Elementary (about 6.7 miles). The count of other public schools within ten miles is 5. On average proficiency, Penderlea Elementary is 2nd of 9 nearby schools with test data.
NCES describes the area around Penderlea Elementary as Rural: Distant, meaning in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
A 6% drop took enrollment from 499 in 2020-21 to 468 in 2024-25.
You can use this page to share news and ask questions about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. You can also rate the school on this page.
Pender County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
65,550
Census ACS
Median income
$80,396
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
31%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
19
11,073 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Pender County Schools
- Topsail HighHigh · 1,945 students
- Surf City ElementaryElementary · 857 students
- Topsail MiddleMiddle · 837 students
- Surf City MiddleMiddle · 752 students
- Heide Trask HighHigh · 732 students
- Pender HighHigh · 648 students
Nearby schools
- Wallace Elementary6.7 mi · 1,120
- Pender High7.8 mi · 648
- Wallace-Rose Hill High8.5 mi · 738
- West Pender Middle9.3 mi · 209
- C.F. Pope Elementary9.6 mi · 530
- Burgaw Middle10.3 mi · 236
Frequently asked questions
About Penderlea ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Penderlea Elementary?
Penderlea Elementary enrolls approximately 468 students in grades KG-08.
What grades does Penderlea Elementary serve?
Penderlea Elementary serves grades KG-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Penderlea Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Penderlea Elementary is approximately 14.2:1 (33 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Penderlea Elementary?
Student demographics at Penderlea Elementary are roughly 50% White, 23% Hispanic, 18% Black, 1% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Is Penderlea Elementary public or private?
Penderlea Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Pender County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.