Rockford Elementary

As a tight-knit elementary school in Dobson, North Carolina, Rockford Elementary enrolls 335 students from grades pre-K through 5, part of Surry County Schools. Compared to the state average of about 467 students per school, that is 28% leaner than typical.

Within Surry County Schools, which oversees 20 schools and 7,318 students, Rockford Elementary is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, Rockford Elementary reports that the most-represented group is White (53%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Beyond that, the school reports 44% Hispanic, 4% multiracial. That is visibly less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 84%.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 25 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 13.4:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 14.9:1 average. Roughly 99% of students at Rockford Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

With demographic context factored in, Rockford Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 48.6%; this one delivers 62.4%.

In the surrounding community, census data for Surry County shows median household earnings sit near $55,656, about 20% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 13%. Rockford Elementary is one of 30 public schools in Surry County (combined enrollment of about 11,139 students).

Nearest neighbor: Surry Central High, around 1.4 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 6 other public schools cluster around Rockford Elementary. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Rockford Elementary at 3rd of 8; the average score across the group is 58.1%.

Geographically, the school is in a small-town area.

Looking at the recent track record. Rockford Elementary's enrollment has decreased 9% since 2018, when it stood at 367 (now 335). Over the same period, the White share contracted from 58% to 53%. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 14.5:1 in 2018 to 13.4:1 today.

On this page, members of the Rockford Elementary community share and discuss enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.