1
What do students at West Buncombe Elementary actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
580
Elementary
DISTRICT 390 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BUNCOMBE COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370045000169
West Buncombe Elementary
175 Erwin Hills Road, Asheville, NC 28806 · (828) 232-4282 · Buncombe County
GRADES KG–04ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL580 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 93% of North Carolina public elementary schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A+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
14.7:1
39 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.1:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
98%
569 students
DISTRICT 96% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 113 | 19% |
| Grade 1 | 113 | 19% |
| Grade 2 | 107 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 128 | 22% |
| Grade 4 | 119 | 21% |
This year's kindergarten class (113) is 5% smaller than its 4th grade class (119).
Student demographics
48%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 54% · 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
61.1%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
81.1%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 61 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 81 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of NC schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
71.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.9%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+22.3pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 71% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 49% typical for North Carolina schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 22 points, placing it in North Carolina's top 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 West Buncombe Elementary
West Buncombe Elementary's state test result (71.2% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Buncombe Elementary this school | 580 | 98.1% | 71.2% |
| Meadow School Benson | 646 | 98.3% | 65.1% |
| Southwood Elementary Lexington | 616 | 99.5% | 63.9% |
| Fair Grove Elementary Thomasville | 524 | 99.4% | 54.5% |
| Millers Creek Elementary School Millers Creek | 699 | 99.6% | 63.5% |
| North Buncombe Elementary Weaverville | 593 | 98.7% | 62.9% |
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 West Buncombe Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Buncombe County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 71.2% | #202 of 1,297 | #3 of 27 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 81.1% | #106 of 1,296 | #1 of 27 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 61.1% | #297 of 1,300 | #10 of 27 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 580 | #396 of 1,485 | #5 of 33 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.7:1 | #668 of 1,377 | #17 of 26 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 48.0% | #1,024 of 1,379 | #15 of 26 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 98.1% | #889 of 1,414 | #12 of 29 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +6.0% | #248 of 369 | #2 of 8 |
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
580
+33 (+6%) vs 2020
-14% since 1990-91, when it was 673
Student : Teacher
14.7:1
was 13.3:1
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 | 580 | 39.4 | 14.7:1 | 98% (569) |
| 2023-24 | 578 | 42.7 | 13.6:1 | 99% (575) |
| 2022-23 | 588 | 41.3 | 14.2:1 | 66% (390) |
| 2020-21 | 547 | 41 | 13.3:1 | 48% (264) |
| 2017-18 | 547 | 38.4 | 14.2:1 | 62% (339) |
| 2015-16 | 629 | 42 | 15.0:1 | 64% (405) |
| 2010-11 | 741 | 52 | 14.3:1 | 63% (470) |
| 2000-01 | 723 | 51 | 14.2:1 | 41% (297) |
| 1990-91 | 673 | 43 | 15.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for West Buncombe Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 6% (547 to 580); teachers up 3% (38.4 to 39.4).
About West Buncombe Elementary
This page covers West Buncombe Elementary, a mid-sized elementary school in Asheville, North Carolina. It offers kindergarten through 4 and has 580 students enrolled. Elementary schools in North Carolina have about 467 students on average; enrollment here is 24% higher.
West Buncombe Elementary is one school in a 45-school district, Buncombe County Schools, which enrolls 22,452 students.
White students are 68% of those enrolled at West Buncombe Elementary. The remaining shares are 24% Hispanic, 4% Black, and 2% multiracial. Census estimates put the White share of Buncombe County's population at about 82%. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 48, compared with 70 nationally.
The student-to-teacher ratio is 14.7:1. The school has 39.4 full-time-equivalent teachers. It is about the same as the 14.9:1 average for elementary schools in North Carolina. Federal data show 98% of students (569) are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That is 10 points above the 88% average for public schools in Buncombe County.
West Buncombe Elementary holds an A allk12 Grade, placing it above 93% of North Carolina public elementary schools.
When test results are adjusted for free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, West Buncombe Elementary ranks in the top 10% of North Carolina schools. It scores 71.2%; the prediction is 48.9%.
The school's county is Buncombe County. According to Census Bureau estimates, the median household earns about $74,436 a year, roughly 46% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Public schools in Buncombe County number 61, with about 29,908 students.
West Buncombe Elementary is about 0.1 miles from Eblen Intermediate, its nearest public school. West Buncombe Elementary has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Nearby schools average 38.0% on proficiency, and West Buncombe Elementary is above that at 71.2%.
NCES describes the area around West Buncombe Elementary as Suburb: Large, meaning in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
The school grew from 547 students in 2020-21 to 580 in 2024-25. The student-to-teacher ratio went up from 13.3:1 to 14.7:1.
Use the discussion section to ask about open houses, carpools, and field trips at West Buncombe Elementary. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Buncombe County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
274,360
Census ACS
Median income
$74,436
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
46%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
61
29,908 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Buncombe County Schools
- Roberson HighHigh · 1,479 students
- Reynolds HighHigh · 1,169 students
- Enka HighHigh · 1,051 students
- Erwin HighHigh · 1,013 students
- North Buncombe HighHigh · 896 students
- Estes ElementaryElementary · 754 students
Other schools in Asheville
- Roberson HighHigh · 1,479 students
- IC ImagineCombined · 1,239 students
- Asheville HighHigh · 1,221 students
- Reynolds HighHigh · 1,169 students
- Erwin HighHigh · 1,013 students
- Estes ElementaryElementary · 754 students
Nearby schools
- Eblen Intermediate0.1 mi · 566
- Erwin High0.3 mi · 1,013
- Erwin Middle0.5 mi · 545
- Emma Elementary2.1 mi · 277
- Johnston Elementary2.1 mi · 217
- Nesbitt Discovery Academy2.3 mi · 372
Frequently asked questions
About West Buncombe ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at West Buncombe Elementary?
West Buncombe Elementary enrolls approximately 580 students in grades KG-04.
What grades does West Buncombe Elementary serve?
West Buncombe Elementary serves grades KG-04.
How many students per teacher at West Buncombe Elementary?
Approximately 14.7:1 students per teacher at West Buncombe Elementary.
What is the student diversity at West Buncombe Elementary?
Student demographics at West Buncombe Elementary are roughly 68% White, 24% Hispanic, 4% Black, 1% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Is West Buncombe Elementary public or private?
West Buncombe Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Buncombe County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.