Washington Street Elementary

Washington Street Elementary is one of the mid-sized elementary-level communitys in Rockingham, North Carolina, run under Richmond County Schools, with 417 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 5.

Within Richmond County Schools, which oversees 15 schools and 6,504 students, Washington Street Elementary is one campus in the system.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Washington Street Elementary shows that the largest single group is Black at 52%, but no single group is in the majority. The remainder breaks down as 27% White, 9% Hispanic, 8% multiracial. That is noticeably more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 31%.

On the resource side, On paper, Washington Street Elementary has 23 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 18.2:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 14.9:1, putting Washington Street Elementary higher than the state norm the norm. About 96% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Washington Street Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 49.5%, the actual is 40.9%, a residual of -8.6 points.

Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Richmond County) logs that the typical household earns roughly $44,883 per year, roughly 16% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 20%. Across Richmond County's 15 public schools (combined enrollment of about 6,504 students), Washington Street Elementary is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Richmond Senior High, roughly 1.2 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Washington Street Elementary. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Washington Street Elementary at 5th of 7; the average score across the group is 41.9%.

The campus sits in a countryside setting.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count shrank 22%: 536 students in 2018 compared to 417 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share ticked down from 36% to 27%. The student-to-teacher ratio loosened from 15.3:1 in 2018 to 18.2:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, recent activity here tends to focus on sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.