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What advice would you give to incoming students at Southwest Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
639
Elementary
DISTRICT 450 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DURHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 370126002218
Southwest Elementary
2320 Cook Road, Durham, NC 27713 · (919) 560-3972 · Durham County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL639 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 76% of North Carolina public elementary schools
- B+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
14.3:1
45 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.4:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
100%
636 students
DISTRICT 98% · 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 | 10 | 2% |
| Kindergarten | 104 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 117 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 87 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 105 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 116 | 18% |
| Grade 5 | 100 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (104) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (100).
Student demographics
72%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 70% · 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
60.5%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
65.3%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 61 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 65 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
63.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.5%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+14.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 63% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 48% typical for North Carolina schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among North Carolina's top nor bottom 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 Southwest Elementary
Southwest Elementary's state test result (63.0% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Elementary this school | 639 | 99.5% | 63.0% |
| Lillington-Shawtown Elementary Lillington | 695 | 99.6% | 44.0% |
| Aberdeen Elementary Aberdeen | 675 | 98.2% | 43.1% |
| Rockfish Hoke Elementary Raeford | 606 | 99.5% | 53.6% |
| Kenansville Elementary Kenansville | 599 | 99.5% | 45.7% |
| Carr Elementary Dallas | 665 | 99.5% | 46.9% |
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 Southwest Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Durham County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 63.0% | #415 of 1,297 | #8 of 32 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 65.3% | #462 of 1,296 | #6 of 32 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 60.5% | #310 of 1,300 | #8 of 32 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 639 | #282 of 1,485 | #4 of 41 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.3:1 | #551 of 1,377 | #27 of 41 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 72.2% | #80 of 1,379 | #3 of 41 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 99.5% | #110 of 1,414 | #4 of 39 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -0.2% | #934 of 937 | #32 of 32 |
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
639
-19 (-3%) vs 2020
-7% since 1990-91, when it was 689
Student : Teacher
14.3:1
was 14.0:1
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 | 639 | 44.7 | 14.3:1 | 100% (636) |
| 2023-24 | 669 | 52.5 | 12.7:1 | 52% (350) |
| 2022-23 | 663 | 50.8 | 13.1:1 | 54% (355) |
| 2020-21 | 658 | 47 | 14.0:1 | 44% (288) |
| 2017-18 | 640 | 46.7 | 13.7:1 | 60% (383) |
| 2015-16 | 633 | 42 | 15.1:1 | 63% (396) |
| 2010-11 | 605 | 40 | 15.1:1 | 59% (355) |
| 2000-01 | 795 | 62 | 12.8:1 | 44% (351) |
| 1990-91 | 689 | 42 | 16.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Southwest Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students unchanged (640 to 639); teachers down 4% (46.7 to 44.7).
About Southwest Elementary
Southwest Elementary, located in Durham, North Carolina, is a mid-sized elementary school. It reports enrollment of 639 students in pre-K through 5. Across elementary schools in North Carolina, the average enrollment is about 467.
Durham Public Schools runs Southwest Elementary along with 54 other schools, enrolling 31,797 students in total.
No group is above 50% at Southwest Elementary; the largest is Black, at 32%. It is also 32% White, 26% Hispanic, and 8% multiracial. Among Durham County residents, the Black share is about 32%. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Southwest Elementary scores 72%.
Its staff includes 44.7 full-time-equivalent teachers, for about 14.3 students per teacher. The average ratio among elementary schools in North Carolina is similar, at 14.9:1. Roughly 100% of students at Southwest Elementary can receive free or reduced-price lunch.
Southwest Elementary holds an A- allk12 Grade, placing it above 76% of North Carolina public elementary schools.
BeatsExpectations compares each school's average proficiency rate across its state test results with a prediction based on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. For Southwest Elementary, the prediction is 48.5% and the result is 63.0%.
Census data for Durham County show median household income comes to about $82,316, 55% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Counting Southwest Elementary, Durham County has 74 public schools.
Pearsontown Elementary, about 0.9 miles away, is the closest public school. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. Among the 7 closest schools with test data, this one included, Southwest Elementary ranks 3rd on average proficiency.
In the federal locale system, Southwest Elementary is coded City: Large, for schools inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
By 2024-25, enrollment had dropped to 639, from 658 in 2020-21.
The Southwest Elementary discussion page is a place for open houses, carpools, and field trips. You can also rate the school on this page.
Durham County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
332,353
Census ACS
Median income
$82,316
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
55%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
74
46,109 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Durham Public Schools
- C E Jordan HighHigh · 2,189 students
- Riverside HighHigh · 1,900 students
- Durham School of the ArtsHigh · 1,764 students
- Hillside HighHigh · 1,433 students
- Southern School of Energy and SustainabiHigh · 1,384 students
- Northern HighHigh · 1,281 students
Other schools in Durham
- NC Virtual AcademyCombined · 3,482 students
- North Carolina Cyber AcademyCombined · 2,461 students
- C E Jordan HighHigh · 2,189 students
- Riverside HighHigh · 1,900 students
- Durham School of the ArtsHigh · 1,764 students
- Hillside HighHigh · 1,433 students
Other Southwest Elementary schools
21 other US public schools in 14 states are named Southwest Elementary. Southwest Elementary is the 6th largest of the 22.
- Southwest ElementaryHigh Point, NC · 808 students
- Southwest ElementaryJacksonville, NC · 720 students
- Southwest ElementaryClemmons, NC · 546 students
- SOUTHWEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOLBAY SHORE, NY · 975 students
- Southwest Elementary SchoolSavannah, GA · 769 students
Nearby schools
- Pearsontown Elementary0.9 mi · 765
- Murray-Massenburg Elementary1.1 mi · 517
- North Carolina Cyber Academy1.7 mi · 2,461
- Durham School of Technology2.0 mi · 219
- NC Virtual Academy2.0 mi · 3,482
- Hillside High2.0 mi · 1,433
Frequently asked questions
About Southwest ElementaryHow many students attend Southwest Elementary?
Southwest Elementary enrolls approximately 639 students in grades PK-05.
Is Southwest Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Southwest Elementary is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Southwest Elementary?
Approximately 14.3:1 students per teacher at Southwest Elementary.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Southwest Elementary?
At Southwest Elementary, the student body is approximately 32% White, 26% Hispanic, 32% Black, 2% Asian, 8% Two or more.
Is Southwest Elementary public or private?
Southwest Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Durham Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.