Williams Elementary

Williams Elementary is a PK–5 school in Swannanoa, NC — a community just east of Asheville — serving about 451 students as part of Buncombe County Schools. The school has some encouraging news for parents: after several tough years, Williams Elementary jumped from the 16th percentile statewide in 2024-25 to the 39th percentile in 2025-26, earning 2 stars. The gains were dramatic — 3rd grade math proficiency climbed from about 36% to 57%, and 5th grade reading rose from roughly 31% to 55% — a bigger jump than most nearby schools posted over the same period. Even with that improvement, Williams still trails district and state averages in most subjects, though the gap has narrowed considerably.

The clearest concern is attendance. About 27% of Williams students were chronically absent in 2024-25, higher than the district rate of 18.7% and above the statewide rate of 24.2%. That's also noticeably worse than nearby schools with similar demographics: Bell Elementary, which serves a similarly high-poverty population and ranks in a similar percentile overall, has a chronic absenteeism rate of only 12.9%. Just a few miles away, Fairview Elementary and Haw Creek Elementary have nearly identical free/reduced-price lunch rates but rank in the 88th and 78th percentiles statewide, with much higher math proficiency. Williams' student-teacher ratio of 15.8:1 is also slightly higher than many of these peers, though spending per pupil is comparable. There are real strengths to build on. Williams ranks in the 80th percentile statewide for serving Gifted and Talented students, and its English Language Learner students jumped from the 9th to the 63rd percentile — one of the largest subgroup turnarounds in the data. Low-income students perform slightly better than the school's overall ranking suggests, meaning poverty alone doesn't explain the results. However, performance has been volatile across grade levels in recent years, and some subgroups, including female students, remain areas of concern. For parents, the big picture is this: the recent gains are promising, but lasting progress will likely depend on improving attendance and expanding the instructional practices that are working well for certain students to the entire school.