Seawell Elementary

Seawell Elementary is one of the moderately sized elementary-level communitys in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, one of the schools within Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, with 416 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 5.

Within Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, which oversees 20 schools and 11,392 students, Seawell Elementary is one campus in the system.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Seawell Elementary shows that the largest single group is White at 34%, but no single group is in the majority. The remainder consists of 33% Asian, 13% Black, 11% Hispanic, 9% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 69% White, putting the school's mix considerably less White than the area baseline.

On the resource side, Seawell Elementary shows 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 12.4:1. The state averages around 14.9:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. About 30% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Orange County runs at roughly 40%, so the school's eligibility rate is lower than the surrounding baseline.

After controlling for student poverty, Seawell Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 69.7%; this one delivers 77.6%.

Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Orange County) shows that median household income runs about $90,089, 62% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Orange County's 38 public schools (combined enrollment of about 19,582 students), Seawell Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Smith Middle is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.2 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Seawell Elementary ranks 2nd on composite proficiency, higher than the local average of 69.7%.

Seawell Elementary operates from an urban location.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Seawell Elementary has edged down 23%, going from 542 students in 2018 to 416 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share contracted from 42% to 34%. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 14.8:1 in 2018 to 12.4:1 today.

On this page, members of the Seawell Elementary community share and discuss school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Members of the school community can share what they know.