Enrollment
337
Elementary
DISTRICT 354 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·RUTHERFORD COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370408001653
Spindale Elementary School
161 N Oak St, Spindale, NC 28160 · (828) 286-2861 · Rutherford County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL337 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 28% of North Carolina public elementary schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats 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
16.5:1
20 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.1:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
95%
321 students
DISTRICT 97% · STATE 82%
Community
0
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 | 25 | 7% |
| Kindergarten | 62 | 18% |
| Grade 1 | 48 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 53 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 41 | 12% |
| Grade 4 | 49 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 59 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (62) is 5% larger than its 5th grade class (59).
Student demographics
65%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 50% · 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
40.6%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
54.8%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 41 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 55 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
46.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
49.8%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 46% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 50% 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 Spindale Elementary School
Spindale Elementary School's state test result (46.1% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spindale Elementary School this school | 337 | 95.3% | 46.1% |
| Douglass Elementary Eden | 349 | 96.6% | 56.8% |
| North Elementary Providence | 320 | 99.1% | 61.6% |
| Pamlico County Primary Bayboro | 329 | 99.1% | 58.5% |
| Roger Bell New Tech Academy Havelock | 408 | 97.8% | 59.7% |
| D F Walker Elementary Edenton | 368 | 99.2% | 44.3% |
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 Spindale Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Rutherford County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 46.1% | #931 of 1,297 | #10 of 10 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 54.8% | #765 of 1,296 | #10 of 10 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 40.6% | #932 of 1,300 | #10 of 10 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 337 | #1,091 of 1,485 | #6 of 10 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.5:1 | #1,125 of 1,377 | #5 of 9 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.7% | #492 of 1,379 | #2 of 9 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 95.3% | #1,058 of 1,414 | #8 of 10 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -23.2% | #203 of 937 | #2 of 6 |
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
337
-41 (-11%) vs 2020
-31% since 1990-91, when it was 489
Student : Teacher
16.5:1
was 15.1:1
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 | 337 | 20.4 | 16.5:1 | 95% (321) |
| 2023-24 | 345 | 23.9 | 14.4:1 | 99% (342) |
| 2022-23 | 341 | 25.4 | 13.4:1 | 99% (338) |
| 2020-21 | 378 | 25 | 15.1:1 | 99% (375) |
| 2017-18 | 439 | 27.7 | 15.8:1 | 99% (436) |
| 2015-16 | 469 | 25 | 18.8:1 | 99% (464) |
| 2010-11 | 461 | 26 | 17.7:1 | 79% (366) |
| 2000-01 | 484 | 28 | 17.3:1 | 65% (314) |
| 1990-91 | 489 | 23 | 21.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Spindale Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 23% (439 to 337); teachers down 26% (27.7 to 20.4).
About Spindale Elementary School
Spindale Elementary School is one of the public schools in Spindale, North Carolina. It is a low-enrollment elementary school. It teaches 337 students in pre-K through 5. It has 28% fewer students than the average for elementary schools in North Carolina (about 467).
Rutherford County Schools oversees Spindale Elementary School and 17 other schools, with 7,394 students in total.
The student body at Spindale Elementary School has no majority group. White students lead at 50%. The remaining shares are 28% Black, 12% Hispanic, and 10% multiracial. Rutherford County as a whole is about 82% White, so the school's share is lower. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 65, compared with 70 nationally.
For every teacher at Spindale Elementary School, there are about 16.5 students; the school has 20.4 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for elementary schools in North Carolina is 14.9:1, so this school has more students per teacher. There are 321 students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 95% of enrollment. Public schools in Rutherford County average a similar 98%.
On the allk12 Grade, Spindale Elementary School lands at C, ahead of 28% of North Carolina public elementary schools.
When test results are adjusted for free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, Spindale Elementary School is 3.6 points below its prediction. Actual: 46.1%. Predicted: 49.8%.
Five-year Census Bureau estimates for Rutherford County show that the median household earns about $51,410 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 22%, and about 13% of people live in poverty. Rutherford County has 20 public schools with about 9,205 students, including Spindale Elementary School.
Spindale Elementary School's closest public school neighbor is Rutherford Early College High School, about 2.1 miles away. In all, 7 other public schools sit within five miles of Spindale Elementary School. Its average proficiency rate of 46.1% is below the 58.0% average for nearby schools.
NCES assigns Spindale Elementary School the locale Town: Distant, meaning in a town some distance from an urbanized area.
Enrollment in 2024-25 stood at 337, compared with 378 in 2020-21. From 2020-21 to 2024-25, the ratio increased from 15.1:1 to 16.5:1.
Use the discussion section to ask about homework, tutoring, and testing dates at Spindale Elementary School. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Rutherford County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
64,930
Census ACS
Median income
$51,410
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
22%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
13%
Below federal line
Schools in county
20
9,205 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Rutherford County Schools
- R-S Central High SchoolHigh · 763 students
- East Rutherford High SchoolHigh · 623 students
- Chase High SchoolHigh · 596 students
- Ellenboro Elementary SchoolElementary · 567 students
- R-S Middle SchoolMiddle · 561 students
- East Rutherford Middle SchoolMiddle · 533 students
Nearby schools
- Rutherford Early College High School2.1 mi · 208
- Rutherfordton Elementary School2.8 mi · 397
- Forest City-Dunbar Elementary School3.4 mi · 459
- R-S Central High School3.5 mi · 763
- R-S Middle School3.6 mi · 561
- Mt. Vernon-Ruth Elementary School3.8 mi · 231
Frequently asked questions
About Spindale Elementary SchoolHow large is Spindale Elementary School?
Spindale Elementary School enrolls approximately 337 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Spindale Elementary School serve?
Spindale Elementary School serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Spindale Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Spindale Elementary School is approximately 16.5:1 (20 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Spindale Elementary School?
Spindale Elementary School reports a student body of 50% White, 12% Hispanic, 28% Black, 10% Two or more.
What district is Spindale Elementary School in?
Spindale Elementary School is part of Rutherford County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.