S Ray Lowder Elementary

Located at 350 Kennedy Dr, in Lincolnton, North Carolina, S Ray Lowder Elementary is an intimate K-5 school that works with 306 students (grades pre-K through 5), overseen by Lincoln County Schools. By comparison, North Carolina's public schools average about 467 students each, so S Ray Lowder Elementary sits 34% below that benchmark.

Lincoln County Schools runs 22 schools in total, collectively educating 11,710 students. S Ray Lowder Elementary is one of those campuses.

For racial and ethnic makeup, S Ray Lowder Elementary records that 50% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. The remainder is composed of 23% Hispanic, 16% Black, 9% multiracial. By comparison, Lincoln County as a whole is about 83% White, so the school skews visibly less White than its surroundings.

On the resource side, On paper, S Ray Lowder Elementary has 23 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 13.4:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 14.9:1, putting S Ray Lowder Elementary tighter than the state norm the norm. An estimated 97% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, Lincoln County runs at roughly 66%, so the school's eligibility rate is higher than the surrounding baseline.

After controlling for student poverty, S Ray Lowder Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 49.1%; this one delivers 54.2%.

In the broader community, ACS estimates for Lincoln County put median household earnings sit near $80,016, roughly 28% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 9%. Across Lincoln County's 25 public schools (combined enrollment of about 14,428 students), S Ray Lowder Elementary is one campus in the mix.

GE Massey Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.1 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, S Ray Lowder Elementary comes 3rd of 8 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 52.5%.

The campus sits in a town-center setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at S Ray Lowder Elementary has grew 18%, going from 260 students in 2018 to 306 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment expanded from 14% to 23% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 14.8:1 in 2018 to 13.4:1 today.

Inside the community feed, recent activity here tends to focus on sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.