Sunnyside Elementary

As a close-knit elementary campus in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Sunnyside Elementary hosts 362 students from grades K through 5, overseen by Cumberland County Schools. Compared to the state average of about 467 students per school, that is 22% below typical.

Cumberland County Schools runs 86 schools in total, collectively educating 49,002 students. Sunnyside Elementary is one of those campuses.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Sunnyside Elementary shows that 63% of the student body identifies as Black; the rest is composed of 13% Hispanic, 12% White, 9% multiracial, 2% Native American. The wider county runs roughly 38% Black, putting the school's mix considerably more Black than the area baseline.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 21 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 17.4:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 14.9:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Roughly 96% of students at Sunnyside Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is above Cumberland County's rate of about 86%.

After controlling for student poverty, Sunnyside Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 49.5%; this one delivers 50.8%.

Zooming out to the county, census data for Cumberland County shows median household earnings sit near $61,291, roughly 28% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 13% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Cumberland County runs 89 public schools (combined enrollment of about 50,815 students), of which Sunnyside Elementary is one.

The closest other public school is Mac Williams Middle, roughly 1.8 miles away. 6 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Sunnyside Elementary comes 5th of 6 in the immediate cluster, behind the nearby-schools average of 54.4%.

Geographically, the school is in an outlying area.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count increased 5%: 344 students in 2018 compared to 362 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment expanded from 9% to 13% over that span. Class-load math has loosened: from 15.3:1 in 2018 to 17.4:1 in 2025.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.