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Alumni: what's one memory from Startown Elementary that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
540
Elementary
DISTRICT 521 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CATAWBA COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370069000291
Startown Elementary
4119 Startown Road, Newton, NC 28658 · (828) 464-1257 · Catawba County
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY22-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL540 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 58% 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.
- B+Beats 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
15.8:1
34 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.3:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
99%
537 students
DISTRICT 86% · 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 | 18 | 3% |
| Kindergarten | 91 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 73 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 69 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 69 | 13% |
| Grade 4 | 78 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 68 | 13% |
| Grade 6 | 74 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (91) is 23% larger than its 6th grade class (74).
Student demographics
65%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 61% · 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
50.7%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
62.1%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 51 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 62 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
56.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.5%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 57% 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 Startown Elementary
Startown Elementary's state test result (56.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Startown Elementary this school | 540 | 99.4% | 56.9% |
| Blackburn Elementary Newton | 484 | 99.0% | 63.1% |
| Oxford Elementary Claremont | 540 | 98.7% | 43.4% |
| Clyde Campbell Elementary Hickory | 505 | 99.4% | 64.6% |
| Claremont Elementary Claremont | 462 | 99.4% | 54.7% |
| Snow Creek Elementary Hickory | 551 | 99.5% | 64.1% |
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 Startown Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Catawba County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 56.9% | #602 of 1,297 | #15 of 23 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 62.1% | #558 of 1,296 | #16 of 23 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 50.7% | #595 of 1,300 | #13 of 23 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 540 | #492 of 1,485 | #8 of 24 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.8:1 | #954 of 1,377 | #11 of 24 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 65.1% | #472 of 1,379 | #12 of 24 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 99.4% | #218 of 1,414 | #5 of 24 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +3.3% | #295 of 369 | #6 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
540
+6 (+1%) vs 2020
-19% since 1990-91, when it was 668
Student : Teacher
15.8:1
was 15.7:1
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 | 540 | 34.2 | 15.8:1 | 99% (537) |
| 2023-24 | 534 | 35.1 | 15.2:1 | 59% (315) |
| 2022-23 | 529 | 36.6 | 14.4:1 | 54% (287) |
| 2020-21 | 534 | 34 | 15.7:1 | 37% (200) |
| 2017-18 | 523 | 33.3 | 15.7:1 | 50% (263) |
| 2015-16 | 528 | 32 | 16.5:1 | 49% (260) |
| 2010-11 | 644 | 40 | 16.1:1 | 42% (270) |
| 2000-01 | 703 | 47 | 15.0:1 | 28% (195) |
| 1990-91 | 668 | 39 | 17.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Startown Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 3% (523 to 540); teachers up 3% (33.3 to 34.2).
About Startown Elementary
Startown Elementary is a mid-sized elementary school based in Newton, North Carolina. The school enrolls 540 students in pre-K through 6.
Catawba County Schools oversees Startown Elementary and 27 other schools, with 16,003 students in total.
White students are 54% of those enrolled at Startown Elementary. The next largest groups are 19% Hispanic, 11% Asian, 10% multiracial, and 6% Black. In Catawba County overall, about 75% of residents are White. A diversity index of 65% means there is a 65% chance two randomly chosen students at Startown Elementary are from different groups.
Startown Elementary reported 34.2 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, a ratio of 15.8:1. Elementary schools in North Carolina have an average ratio of 14.9:1. Roughly 99% of students at Startown Elementary can receive free or reduced-price lunch. That is higher than the 86% average for public schools in Catawba County.
Startown Elementary holds a B allk12 Grade, placing it above 58% of North Carolina public elementary schools.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Startown Elementary falls in the middle 80% of North Carolina schools: 56.9% actual against 48.5% predicted.
Census data for Catawba County show the median household earns about $67,864 a year, 26% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 9% of people live in poverty. Counting Startown Elementary, Catawba County has 44 public schools.
Startown Elementary's closest public school neighbor is South Newton Elementary, about 2.6 miles away. The five-mile area around Startown Elementary holds at least 8 other public schools. Startown Elementary ranks 5th of 9 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 56.9% against a local average of 61.8%.
The school's locale code, Suburb: Mid-size, means it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Enrollment went from 534 in 2020-21 to 540 in 2024-25, a change of 6 students.
This community page is for conversations about open houses, carpools, and field trips. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Catawba County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
163,573
Census ACS
Median income
$67,864
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
26%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
44
22,392 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Catawba County Schools
- Saint Stephens HighHigh · 1,268 students
- Bandys HighHigh · 935 students
- Fred T Foard HighHigh · 930 students
- Maiden HighHigh · 852 students
- Bunker Hill HighHigh · 845 students
- Saint Stephens ElementaryElementary · 711 students
Other schools in Newton
- Fred T Foard HighHigh · 930 students
- Newton-Conover HighHigh · 724 students
- Balls Creek ElementaryElementary · 686 students
- Blackburn ElementaryElementary · 484 students
- Jacobs Fork MiddleMiddle · 482 students
- North Newton ElementaryElementary · 388 students
Nearby schools
- South Newton Elementary2.6 mi · 328
- Newton-Conover High3.7 mi · 724
- Blackburn Elementary3.8 mi · 484
- Discovery High School3.9 mi · 146
- North Newton Elementary4.1 mi · 388
- Challenger Early College High4.3 mi · 376
Frequently asked questions
About Startown ElementaryHow large is Startown Elementary?
Startown Elementary enrolls approximately 540 students in grades PK-06.
What age range does Startown Elementary serve?
Startown Elementary serves students from grade PK through grade 06.
How many teachers does Startown Elementary have?
Startown Elementary employs 34 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.8:1.
How diverse is Startown Elementary?
Startown Elementary reports a student body of 54% White, 19% Hispanic, 6% Black, 11% Asian, 10% Two or more.
Who oversees Startown Elementary?
Startown Elementary is overseen by Catawba County Schools in Catawba County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.