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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Willow Springs Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
826
Elementary
DISTRICT 594 · STATE 467
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WAKE COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370472001910
Willow Springs Elementary
6800 Dwight Rowland Rd, Willow Spring, NC 27592 · (919) 557-2770 · Wake County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL826 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 78% of North Carolina public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats 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
14.1:1
59 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.5:1 · STATE 14.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
31%
254 students
DISTRICT 47% · 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 | 117 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 149 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 145 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 175 | 21% |
| Grade 4 | 128 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 112 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (117) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (112).
Student demographics
60%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 73% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Willow Springs Elementary→Herbert Akins Road Middle
Based on published attendance-zone data from Wake County Schools. Zones change; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
NC EOG / EOC 2024-25 . % Grade Level Proficient (Level 3+)English Language Arts
64.7%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
80.7%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 65 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
74.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
69.5%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+5.3pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 75% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 69% typical for North Carolina schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among North Carolina's top nor bottom 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 Willow Springs Elementary
Willow Springs Elementary's state test result (74.7% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Willow Springs Elementary this school | 826 | 30.8% | 74.7% |
| Ballentine Elementary Fuquay Varina | 742 | 28.6% | 76.7% |
| Sycamore Creek Elementary Raleigh | 778 | 25.6% | 74.8% |
| Bain Elementary Mint Hill | 766 | 28.5% | 83.7% |
| Matthews Elementary Matthews | 726 | 31.0% | 72.2% |
| Vienna Elementary Pfafftown | 755 | 30.9% | 78.6% |
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 Willow Springs Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Wake County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 74.7% | #142 of 1,297 | #30 of 120 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 80.7% | #114 of 1,296 | #22 of 120 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 64.7% | #232 of 1,300 | #51 of 121 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 826 | #64 of 1,485 | #13 of 139 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.1:1 | #500 of 1,377 | #83 of 137 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 60.0% | #705 of 1,379 | #104 of 137 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 30.8% | #1,293 of 1,414 | #90 of 128 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -25.2% | #162 of 937 | #15 of 91 |
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
826
+580 (+236%) vs 2020
+128% since 1990-91, when it was 362
Student : Teacher
14.1:1
was 6.5:1
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 | 826 | 58.7 | 14.1:1 | 31% (254) |
| 2023-24 | 821 | 58.3 | 14.1:1 | 32% (261) |
| 2022-23 | 656 | 46 | 14.3:1 | 33% (214) |
| 2020-21 | 246 | 38 | 6.5:1 | 48% (118) |
| 2017-18 | 1,104 | 64.3 | 17.2:1 | 23% (259) |
| 2015-16 | 1,026 | 62 | 16.6:1 | 28% (286) |
| 2010-11 | 911 | 53 | 17.2:1 | 33% (301) |
| 2000-01 | 728 | 47 | 15.5:1 | 31% (225) |
| 1990-91 | 362 | 27 | 13.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Willow Springs Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 25% (1,104 to 826); teachers down 9% (64.3 to 58.7).
About Willow Springs Elementary
Willow Springs Elementary operates as a high-enrollment elementary school in Willow Spring, North Carolina. Students in kindergarten through 5 attend, and enrollment is 826 students. The typical figure for elementary schools in North Carolina is about 467 students.
Besides Willow Springs Elementary, Wake County Schools runs 197 other schools. The district enrolls 163,176 students.
White students are the majority at Willow Springs Elementary, with 59% of enrollment. After that, the student body is 19% Hispanic, 8% Black, 8% Asian, and 6% multiracial. That is close to the 58% White share among all Wake County residents. The school's diversity index is 60%, meaning two students picked at random have a 60% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Willow Springs Elementary operates with 58.7 full-time-equivalent teachers, a ratio of about 14.1:1. That is lower than the 14.9:1 average for elementary schools in North Carolina. About 31% of students at the school meet free or reduced-price lunch income limits. Compared with the 42% average for public schools in Wake County, the school's rate is lower.
The allk12 Grade for Willow Springs Elementary is A-. Compared with North Carolina public elementary schools, the school scored higher than 78% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
Given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, Willow Springs Elementary would be expected to post about 69.5%. Its actual average proficiency rate on state tests is 74.7%.
Willow Springs Elementary is located in Wake County, where the median household income is $105,768, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 57%, and roughly 5% of residents are in poverty. Besides Willow Springs Elementary, Wake County has 236 other public schools.
Of nearby public schools, South Lakes Elementary is the closest, at about 1.2 miles. Willow Springs Elementary has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Among 8 nearby schools that report test results, Willow Springs Elementary ranks 2nd on proficiency.
Willow Springs Elementary is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more, a location NCES labels Suburb: Large.
Reported enrollment: 246 (2020-21) and 826 (2024-25). These figures may describe different sets of grades. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio rose to 14.1:1, from 6.5:1.
If you have questions about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news at Willow Springs Elementary, you can post them here. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Wake County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,178,653
Census ACS
Median income
$105,768
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
57%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
237
184,790 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Wake County Schools
- Apex Friendship HighHigh · 2,748 students
- Enloe HighHigh · 2,643 students
- Panther Creek HighHigh · 2,609 students
- Millbrook HighHigh · 2,498 students
- Apex HighHigh · 2,449 students
- Leesville Road HighHigh · 2,411 students
Other Willow Springs Elementary schools
4 other US public schools in 5 states are named Willow Springs Elementary. Willow Springs Elementary is the largest of the 5.
- Willow Springs ElementaryFairfax, VA · 818 students
- Willow Springs Elementary SchoolKILLEEN, TX · 670 students
- WILLOW SPRINGS ELEM.WILLOW SPRINGS, MO · 446 students
- Willow Springs Elementary SchoolWillow Springs, IL · 414 students
Nearby schools
- South Lakes Elementary1.2 mi · 774
- Willow Spring High1.3 mi · 2,223
- Fuquay-Varina Elementary1.7 mi · 772
- Ballentine Elementary2.7 mi · 742
- Banks Road Elementary2.8 mi · 651
- Fuquay-Varina High3.8 mi · 1,858
Frequently asked questions
About Willow Springs ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Willow Springs Elementary?
Willow Springs Elementary enrolls approximately 826 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Willow Springs Elementary serve?
Willow Springs Elementary serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Willow Springs Elementary?
Approximately 14.1:1 students per teacher at Willow Springs Elementary.
How diverse is Willow Springs Elementary?
Willow Springs Elementary reports a student body of 59% White, 19% Hispanic, 8% Black, 8% Asian, 6% Two or more.
What district is Willow Springs Elementary in?
Willow Springs Elementary is part of Wake County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.