Upchurch Elementary

Upchurch Elementary is a primary school of reasonably sized scale in Raeford, North Carolina, one of the schools within Hoke County Schools, teacheing 646 students in grades pre-K through 5. Enrollment runs roughly 38% above the state mean of about 467.

Hoke County Schools comprises 14 schools with combined enrollment of 8,732 students; Upchurch Elementary is among them.

On the student-mix side, Upchurch Elementary lists that 43% of students identify as Black, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Beyond that, the school lists 29% Hispanic, 14% White, 11% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 33% Black, putting the school's mix noticeably more Black than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 40 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 16.0:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 14.9:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. An estimated 99% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

After controlling for student poverty, Upchurch Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 48.6%, the actual is 53.8%, a residual of +5.2 points.

Around the school, the surrounding county (Hoke County) logs that median household earnings sit near $64,912, 24% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 14% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Hoke County's 14 public schools (combined enrollment of about 8,732 students), Upchurch Elementary is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is West Hoke Middle, roughly 0.6 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Upchurch Elementary ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, above the local average of 50.4%.

The campus sits in a commuter-belt setting.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Upchurch Elementary has shrank 7%, going from 697 students in 2018 to 646 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share shrank from 23% to 14%.

On allk12, members of the Upchurch Elementary community share and discuss classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Members of the school community can share what they know.