Summary:
The city of Whittier, North Carolina has only one school, Smokey Mountain Elementary, which serves grades PK-8 and has a total enrollment of 356 students. The school is part of the Jackson County Public Schools district, which is ranked 172 out of 242 districts in the state and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.
Smokey Mountain Elementary's academic performance on state standardized tests (EOG) is generally below the district and state averages across all grade levels and subject areas. In 2024-2025, the school's proficiency rates range from 16.3% to 51.7% in mathematics, 22.6% to 48.6% in reading, and 51.7% to 54.3% in science. This trend of consistently low performance has persisted over the past few years, with proficiency rates declining or remaining stagnant in many subject areas.
The school has a very high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, at 96.63% in the 2023-2024 school year, indicating a high concentration of students from low-income families. Despite the school's academic challenges, it has a relatively low student-teacher ratio of 15.1 for the 2023-2024 school year, which could suggest a focus on smaller class sizes or additional staffing support. However, the school's per-student spending of $11,755 for the 2018-2019 school year may not be sufficient to address the significant academic and socioeconomic needs of the student population.
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