White Oak Elementary

White Oak Elementary, a roomy elementary campus in Cape Carteret, North Carolina, one of the schools within Carteret County Public Schools, teaches 784 students, covering grades pre-K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 467 students per school, that is 68% larger than typical.

Across the 17 schools in Carteret County Public Schools (7,847 students total), White Oak Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, White Oak Elementary logs that nearly all students (86%) are White. Beyond that, the school shows 6% Hispanic, 5% multiracial. Compared to Carteret County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.

Looking at school resources, On paper, White Oak Elementary has 45 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 17.6:1. The state averages around 14.9:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Around 29% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Carteret County runs at roughly 76%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat below the surrounding baseline.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, White Oak Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 69.8%; this one delivers 74.2%.

Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Carteret County) logs that the typical household earns roughly $72,322 per year, about 35% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. Across Carteret County's 19 public schools (combined enrollment of about 8,053 students), White Oak Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Swansboro Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 4.6 miles from this campus. Within ten miles, there are 8 other public schools, a sparser pattern than typical urban areas. On composite proficiency, White Oak Elementary comes 4th of 9 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 68.5%.

Geographically, the school is in a town-center area.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at White Oak Elementary has ticked down 4%, going from 815 students in 2018 to 784 in 2025. Class-load math has widened: from 15.9:1 in 2018 to 17.6:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, members of the White Oak Elementary community share and discuss enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.