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What's the best and worst thing about the food at South Topsail Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
618
Elementary
DISTRICT 559 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PENDER COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370357002046
South Topsail Elementary
997 Hoover Road, Hampstead, NC 28443 · (910) 270-2756 · Pender County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL618 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 88% 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
16.1:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.8:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
100%
615 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 34 | 6% |
| Kindergarten | 78 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 97 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 92 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 108 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 91 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 118 | 19% |
This year's kindergarten class (78) is 34% smaller than its 5th grade class (118).
Student demographics
39%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
64.7%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
74.4%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 65 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 74 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
68.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.5%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+20.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 69% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 48% 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 20 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 South Topsail Elementary
South Topsail Elementary's state test result (68.9% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Topsail Elementary this school | 618 | 99.5% | 68.9% |
| Granite Falls Elementary Granite Falls | 647 | 99.2% | 64.1% |
| Newport Elementary Newport | 621 | 99.5% | 63.0% |
| Hudson Elementary Hudson | 665 | 97.0% | 59.8% |
| Hopewell Elementary School Trinity | 679 | 99.6% | 72.4% |
| Ellenboro Elementary School Ellenboro | 567 | 97.4% | 73.5% |
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 South Topsail Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Pender County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 68.9% | #257 of 1,297 | #3 of 9 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 74.4% | #239 of 1,296 | #3 of 9 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 64.7% | #231 of 1,300 | #3 of 9 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 618 | #321 of 1,485 | #2 of 9 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.1:1 | #1,048 of 1,377 | #5 of 9 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 39.1% | #1,187 of 1,379 | #6 of 9 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 99.5% | #128 of 1,414 | #2 of 9 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +2.0% | #328 of 369 | 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
618
+226 (+58%) vs 2020
+140% since 1990-91, when it was 258
Student : Teacher
16.1:1
was 16.3:1
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 | 618 | 38.3 | 16.1:1 | 100% (615) |
| 2023-24 | 610 | 38 | 16.1:1 | 31% (189) |
| 2022-23 | 557 | 35.5 | 15.7:1 | 34% (191) |
| 2020-21 | 392 | 24 | 16.3:1 | 23% (91) |
| 2017-18 | 606 | 36 | 16.8:1 | 18% (110) |
| 2015-16 | 643 | 34 | 18.9:1 | 23% (150) |
| 2010-11 | 487 | 28 | 17.4:1 | 24% (116) |
| 2000-01 | 422 | 29 | 14.6:1 | 27% (115) |
| 1990-91 | 258 | 15 | 17.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for South Topsail Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 2% (606 to 618); teachers up 6% (36 to 38.3).
About South Topsail Elementary
South Topsail Elementary is a medium-sized elementary school in Hampstead, North Carolina, (ZIP code 28443). The school's enrollment of 618 students covers pre-K through 5. Statewide, elementary schools in North Carolina average about 467 students each.
The 19 schools in Pender County Schools enroll 11,073 students altogether, South Topsail Elementary among them.
White students make up a majority at South Topsail Elementary, at 77%. The next largest groups are 11% Hispanic, 7% multiracial, and 3% Black. The White share in Pender County as a whole is similar, at about 75%. The school's diversity index is 39%, meaning two students picked at random have a 39% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Its 38.3 full-time-equivalent teachers give the school a ratio of 16.1:1. This ratio sits 1.3 above the 14.9:1 average for elementary schools in North Carolina. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 100%. That rate is above the 70% average among public schools in Pender County.
South Topsail Elementary is graded A by allk12, scoring above 88% of North Carolina public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
South Topsail Elementary scores 20.4 points above its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests: 68.9% actual versus 48.5% predicted. That puts it in the top 10% of North Carolina schools on BeatsExpectations.
Pender County has about 65,550 residents, and the median household income is $80,396, 31% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Besides South Topsail Elementary, Pender County has 18 other public schools.
The shortest distance from South Topsail Elementary to another public school is about 2.0 miles, to Topsail High. Other public schools within five miles: 4. South Topsail Elementary comes in 7th of 8 nearby schools on average proficiency.
In the federal locale system, South Topsail Elementary is coded Rural: Fringe, for schools in rural territory close to an urban area.
The 2020-21 count was 392 students and the 2024-25 count was 618. A difference that large may reflect a change in which grades the school serves.
Posts about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs are welcome on this page. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
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
Other schools in Hampstead
- Topsail HighHigh · 1,945 students
- Surf City ElementaryElementary · 857 students
- Topsail MiddleMiddle · 837 students
- Surf City MiddleMiddle · 752 students
- Topsail Annandale Elementary SchoolElementary · 580 students
- North Topsail ElementaryElementary · 529 students
Nearby schools
- Topsail High2.0 mi · 1,945
- Topsail Annandale Elementary School2.2 mi · 580
- Topsail Middle2.3 mi · 837
- North Topsail Elementary4.5 mi · 529
- American Leadership Academy-Coastal5.8 mi · 1,002
- Porters Neck Elementary7.6 mi · 666
Frequently asked questions
About South Topsail ElementaryHow many students attend South Topsail Elementary?
South Topsail Elementary enrolls approximately 618 students in grades PK-05.
Is South Topsail Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
South Topsail Elementary is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at South Topsail Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at South Topsail Elementary is approximately 16.1:1 (38 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at South Topsail Elementary?
At South Topsail Elementary, the student body is approximately 77% White, 11% Hispanic, 3% Black, 1% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Is South Topsail Elementary public or private?
South Topsail 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.