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John Small Elementary

Public Grades 4-5
1258th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 1,492 North Carolina Elementary Schools
Better than 16% of North Carolina elementary schools
Summary

John Small Elementary, serving 379 students in grades 4-5, is located in Washington, NC, and is part of Beaufort County Schools. With roughly 99% of students qualifying for free/reduced-price lunch, the school operates in a very high-poverty community and has recently earned a one-star state ranking, placing it in the 16th percentile among North Carolina elementary schools.

Academically, John Small struggles most in math and reading compared to the state. On recent EOG tests, only 39.2% of 4th graders were proficient in math and 35.4% in reading, while state averages were 61.4% and 57.7%, respectively. The gaps remain large in 5th grade. Science offers a brighter picture: 62% of 5th graders were proficient, close to the state's 67.7%. Chronic absenteeism has also improved to 22.7% in 2024-2025, now below both the Beaufort County Schools average and the state average. Still, the student-teacher ratio of 18.4 is higher than at nearby schools like Bath Elementary (15.5) and Chocowinity Primary (14.5), which could limit individualized support.

What stands out most is that high poverty does not predestine low performance. Adjacent schools such as Chocowinity Primary and Bath Elementary also serve nearly all low-income students yet rank in the 95th and 89th percentiles statewide, far above John Small's 16th percentile. This suggests that instructional practices and school-level strategies matter. The challenges may also begin earlier, as John C Tayloe Elementary, a nearby school in the same district with grades 2-3, posts similarly low 3rd grade proficiency scores. Encouragingly, John Small's English Learner students perform in the 87th percentile statewide, a proven strength that could guide improvements for the broader student population.

379
Students ?
18.4
Student/teacher ratio ?
99.2%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 4103 North Market Street Ext
       Washington, NC  27889

(252) 946-3941

District: Beaufort County Schools


Students who attend John Small Elementary usually attend:

Middle:    P S Jones Middle
High:    Washington High
Racial breakdown:

African American:
45.6%
White:
26.9%
Hispanic:
21.4%
more
 See top rated North Carolina elementary schools

 Compare John Small Elementary to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 44th percentile in 2016 → 16th in 2026
Worth a look
!Test scores below the North Carolina average (45% vs 61% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (16th percentile)
!Ranking has slipped — down 28 percentile points since 2016
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school45%
District avg57%
North Carolina avg61%
1,258th of 1,492
North Carolina public elementary schools ?
Bottom 16%▼ down 29 pts since 2016
From bottom 44% (2016) to bottom 16% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of North Carolina Elementary Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
95th of 246Beaufort County Schools among North Carolina districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202621.41258 of 149215.7%★☆☆☆☆
202519.21292 of 149013.3%★☆☆☆☆
202419.71287 of 150514.5%★☆☆☆☆
202319.61260 of 150216.1%★☆☆☆☆
202225.71162 of 151423.2%★☆☆☆☆
202136.9915 of 148938.5%★★☆☆☆
201943.1872 of 147340.8%★★☆☆☆
201838.5944 of 143434.2%★★☆☆☆
201739.9911 of 142936.2%★★☆☆☆
201647.1791 of 142544.5%★★☆☆☆
201530.51073 of 144025.5%★☆☆☆☆
201422.51120 of 139019.4%★☆☆☆☆
201336.5915 of 140334.8%★★☆☆☆
201215.31272 of 13888.4%☆☆☆☆☆
201122.31171 of 138115.2%★☆☆☆☆
201029.71065 of 136321.9%★☆☆☆☆
200926.81073 of 135420.8%★☆☆☆☆
200840.5861 of 132435.0%★★☆☆☆
200743.6838 of 129335.2%★★☆☆☆
200639.9866 of 127632.1%★★☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202618.7810 of 90310.3%★☆☆☆☆
202514.3869 of 9185.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202419.2836 of 9249.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202319.5837 of 93310.3%★☆☆☆☆
202219.1841 of 9279.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202144.3443 of 89650.6%★★★☆☆
201950.7427 of 94955.0%★★★☆☆
201838.2595 of 92735.8%★★☆☆☆

Disabled

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202226.5516 of 63418.6%★☆☆☆☆
202146.6275 of 64657.4%★★★☆☆
201952.0337 of 87861.6%★★★☆☆
201836.9583 of 89735.0%★★☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202676.365 of 51987.5%★★★★☆
202559.2156 of 56372.3%★★★★☆
202448.4230 of 53356.8%★★★☆☆
202338.1306 of 51440.5%★★☆☆☆
202245.3236 of 48551.3%★★★☆☆
202161.280 of 38579.2%★★★★☆
201974.265 of 49786.9%★★★★☆
201866.886 of 42179.6%★★★★☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202616.21321 of 14478.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202519.71260 of 145113.2%★☆☆☆☆
202421.61230 of 145515.5%★☆☆☆☆
202320.91239 of 145915.1%★☆☆☆☆
202228.01104 of 145824.3%★☆☆☆☆
202142.3791 of 144045.1%★★☆☆☆
201937.0951 of 142433.2%★★☆☆☆
201833.81028 of 140526.8%★☆☆☆☆

Gifted and Talented

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202352.6401 of 58231.1%★★☆☆☆
202253.4317 of 50036.6%★★☆☆☆
202129.7430 of 49413.0%★☆☆☆☆
201930.4577 of 6125.7%☆☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202654.5412 of 98158.0%★★★☆☆
202553.0438 of 96154.4%★★★☆☆
202442.4562 of 95140.9%★★☆☆☆
202337.3597 of 91534.8%★★☆☆☆
202256.2327 of 89363.4%★★★☆☆
202154.7312 of 84363.0%★★★☆☆
201955.3358 of 86558.6%★★★☆☆
201861.0276 of 85167.6%★★★☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202627.71174 of 143418.1%★☆☆☆☆
202522.01269 of 143711.7%★☆☆☆☆
202416.81332 of 14508.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202319.41269 of 143711.7%★☆☆☆☆
202223.31173 of 136614.1%★☆☆☆☆
202141.3754 of 132943.3%★★☆☆☆
201947.0748 of 136145.0%★★☆☆☆
201838.7878 of 133234.1%★★☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202628.81088 of 145125.0%★☆☆☆☆
202520.71239 of 145014.6%★☆☆☆☆
202419.11272 of 146413.1%★☆☆☆☆
202319.81235 of 146115.5%★☆☆☆☆
202224.21157 of 146421.0%★☆☆☆☆
202131.3970 of 144432.8%★★☆☆☆
201949.4753 of 143047.3%★★☆☆☆
201844.3858 of 141339.3%★★☆☆☆

Multi-racial

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202621.5158 of 18112.7%★☆☆☆☆
202526.3134 of 17523.4%★☆☆☆☆
202411.4151 of 1595.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202320.7133 of 15413.6%★☆☆☆☆
202222.8110 of 13317.3%★☆☆☆☆
202129.777 of 9720.6%★☆☆☆☆
201942.369 of 10333.0%★★☆☆☆
20188.783 of 863.5%☆☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202631.8593 of 81527.2%★☆☆☆☆
202527.8654 of 82120.3%★☆☆☆☆
202430.5586 of 80126.8%★☆☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202628.4915 of 114620.2%★☆☆☆☆
202538.5788 of 117232.8%★★☆☆☆
202443.7708 of 116639.3%★★☆☆☆
202330.5906 of 118323.4%★☆☆☆☆
202231.9892 of 119425.3%★☆☆☆☆
202143.0680 of 117242.0%★★☆☆☆
201959.6476 of 118359.8%★★★☆☆
201857.1520 of 117855.9%★★★☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
English Language Learner (2026)87th percentile+72 vs school
Hispanic (2026)58th percentile+42 vs school
Gifted and Talented (2023)31st percentile+15 vs school
Special Education (2026)27th percentile+12 vs school
Male (2026)25th percentile+9 vs school
White (2026)20th percentile+4 vs school
Disabled (2022)19th percentile-5 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)18th percentile~ school
Multi-racial (2026)13th percentile-3 vs school
African American (2026)10th percentile-5 vs school
Female (2026)9th percentile-7 vs school
By subject vs North Carolina (2025-2026) ?
Science62%-6 vs state
Mathematics41%-21 vs state
Reading39%-17 vs state

★
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Frequently Asked Questions about John Small Elementary

In the 2024-25 school year, 379 students attended John Small Elementary.

Students at John Small Elementary are 46% African American, 27% White, 21% Hispanic, 5% Two or more races.

Students who attend John Small Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : P S Jones Middle
High : Washington High

John Small Elementary ranks in the bottom 15.7% of North Carolina elementary schools.

Rate John Small Elementary!



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Latest North Carolina data All new data »
2017–18 through 2025–26 attendance data & graduation ratesSep 2, 2026
2025–26 EOC & EOG test scoresSep 2, 2026
2016–17 through 2024–25 graduation ratesSep 3, 2025
2024–25 EOC & EOG test scoresSep 3, 2025


SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.

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