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What do students at Polo Ridge Elementary actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
634
Elementary
DISTRICT 596 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG SCHOOLS·NCES 370297003032
Polo Ridge Elementary
11830 Tom Short Rd, Charlotte, NC 28277 · (980) 343-0749 · Mecklenburg County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL634 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 99% 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
17.1:1
37 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.4:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
18%
117 students
DISTRICT 73% · 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 | 36 | 6% |
| Kindergarten | 86 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 81 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 104 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 113 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 108 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 106 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (86) is 19% smaller than its 5th grade class (106).
Student demographics
66%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 72% · 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
87.5%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
93.8%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 88 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 94 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of NC schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
91.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
73.2%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+17.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 91% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 73% typical for North Carolina schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 18 points, placing it in North Carolina's top 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 Polo Ridge Elementary
Polo Ridge Elementary's state test result (91.0% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polo Ridge Elementary this school | 634 | 18.5% | 91.0% |
| Hawk Ridge Elementary Charlotte | 640 | 19.5% | 82.9% |
| Baucom Elementary Apex | 675 | 21.2% | 77.7% |
| Turner Creek Elementary Cary | 638 | 22.6% | 71.9% |
| McKee Road Elementary Charlotte | 534 | 27.3% | 86.1% |
| Harrisburg Elementary Harrisburg | 850 | 21.1% | 82.3% |
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 Polo Ridge Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Mecklenburg County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 91.0% | #2 of 1,297 | #1 of 115 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 93.8% | #1 of 1,296 | #1 of 115 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 87.5% | #6 of 1,300 | #3 of 116 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 634 | #293 of 1,485 | #56 of 136 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.1:1 | #1,232 of 1,377 | #110 of 133 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 66.4% | #396 of 1,379 | #30 of 133 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 18.5% | #1,368 of 1,414 | #122 of 130 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -36.7% | #37 of 937 | #9 of 72 |
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
634
-11 (-2%) vs 2020
-29% since 2010-11, when it was 894
Student : Teacher
17.1:1
was 14.7:1
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 | 634 | 37 | 17.1:1 | 18% (117) |
| 2023-24 | 588 | 38 | 15.5:1 | 17% (99) |
| 2022-23 | 598 | 37 | 16.2:1 | 12% (69) |
| 2020-21 | 645 | 44 | 14.7:1 | 5% (34) |
| 2017-18 | 1,002 | 56.1 | 17.9:1 | 5% (49) |
| 2015-16 | 1,053 | 53 | 19.9:1 | 7% (69) |
| 2010-11 | 894 | 49 | 18.2:1 | 5% (47) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Polo Ridge Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 37% (1,002 to 634); teachers down 34% (56.1 to 37).
About Polo Ridge Elementary
Polo Ridge Elementary is a medium-sized elementary school located in Charlotte, North Carolina. Grades offered run from pre-K through 5, with 634 students enrolled. The average among elementary schools in North Carolina is roughly 467 students; this school is 36% bigger than that.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools system has 186 schools and 145,014 students.
At Polo Ridge Elementary, the largest share of students is White, at 49%. The next largest groups are 28% Asian, 9% Hispanic, 7% Black, and 7% multiracial. The school's diversity index is 66%, meaning two students picked at random have a 66% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Federal data list 37 full-time-equivalent teachers at Polo Ridge Elementary in 2024-25, for a ratio of 17.1:1. That is higher than the 14.9:1 average for elementary schools in North Carolina. The lunch program counts 18% of students at Polo Ridge Elementary as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Across public schools in Mecklenburg County, the average is 71%.
allk12 grades Polo Ridge Elementary an A+. The grade compares the school only with North Carolina public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Polo Ridge Elementary would score about 73.2%. It scores 91.0%, a top-10% result among North Carolina schools on BeatsExpectations.
Recent Census Bureau figures for Mecklenburg County show that the median household income is $87,005, 49% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Polo Ridge Elementary is one of 226 public schools in the county.
The closest public school, Rea Farms STEAM Academy, is about 1.0 miles from Polo Ridge Elementary. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Of the 8 nearby schools with scores, including this one, Polo Ridge Elementary is 1st on average proficiency.
Its NCES locale code is City: Large: the school is inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment was essentially flat over 4 years: 645 in 2020-21, 634 in 2024-25. The ratio of students to teachers went from 14.7:1 to 17.1:1 over the same years.
Questions about school safety, transportation, and start times can be posted here. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Mecklenburg County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,154,681
Census ACS
Median income
$87,005
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
49%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
226
170,407 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
- Myers Park High SchoolHigh · 3,225 students
- Ardrey Kell High SchoolHigh · 3,036 students
- South Mecklenburg High SchoolHigh · 2,534 students
- William Amos Hough HighHigh · 2,518 students
- East Mecklenburg High SchoolHigh · 2,422 students
- Palisades High SchoolHigh · 2,332 students
Other schools in Charlotte
- Myers Park High SchoolHigh · 3,225 students
- Ardrey Kell High SchoolHigh · 3,036 students
- South Mecklenburg High SchoolHigh · 2,534 students
- East Mecklenburg High SchoolHigh · 2,422 students
- Palisades High SchoolHigh · 2,332 students
- Julius L. Chambers High SchoolHigh · 2,225 students
Nearby schools
- Rea Farms STEAM Academy1.0 mi · 1,098
- Jay M. Robinson Middle1.3 mi · 1,333
- Hawk Ridge Elementary1.7 mi · 640
- Community House Middle1.8 mi · 1,425
- Ardrey Kell High School2.1 mi · 3,036
- Knights View Elementary School2.3 mi · 511
Frequently asked questions
About Polo Ridge ElementaryHow many students attend Polo Ridge Elementary?
Polo Ridge Elementary enrolls approximately 634 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Polo Ridge Elementary serve?
Polo Ridge Elementary serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Polo Ridge Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Polo Ridge Elementary is approximately 17.1:1 (37 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Polo Ridge Elementary?
At Polo Ridge Elementary, the student body is approximately 49% White, 9% Hispanic, 7% Black, 28% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Is Polo Ridge Elementary public or private?
Polo Ridge Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.