Southwest Elementary

Southwest Elementary is an elementary school of reasonably sized scale in Durham, North Carolina, part of Durham Public Schools, hosting 639 students in grades pre-K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 467 students per school, that is 37% larger than typical.

Within Durham Public Schools, which oversees 55 schools and 31,797 students, Southwest Elementary is one campus in the system.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Southwest Elementary shows that the largest single group is Black at 32%, but no single group is in the majority. Other groups include 32% White, 26% Hispanic, 8% multiracial. That composition is broadly in line with Durham County as a whole.

On the income-and-resources front, On paper, Southwest Elementary has 45 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 14.3:1. That tracks the state average closely. An estimated 100% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

With demographic context factored in, Southwest Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 48.5%, the actual is 63.0%, a residual of +14.6 points.

Across the wider county, ACS estimates for Durham County put median household earnings sit near $82,316, roughly 55% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Durham County runs 74 public schools (combined enrollment of about 46,109 students), of which Southwest Elementary is one.

Nearest neighbor: Pearsontown Elementary, around 0.9 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Southwest Elementary at 3rd of 7; the average score across the group is 51.2%.

Geographically, the school is in an inner-city area.

Looking at the recent track record. Southwest Elementary's enrollment has changed only slightly since 2018, when it stood at 640 (now 639). Over the same period, the Black share declined from 49% to 32%.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.