Baskerville Elementary

Baskerville Elementary is a small K–5 school in Rocky Mount, NC, serving roughly 225 students in Edgecombe County Public Schools, where nearly all students (98.67%) come from low-income households. The school is currently ranked 1,484 out of 1,492 elementary schools statewide, placing it in the bottom 1% of North Carolina, and it holds a 0-star rating on SchoolDigger. Every measured student group—female, male, African American, special education, and low socioeconomic status—ranks in the bottom 5% statewide, meaning the academic challenges affect nearly all students at the school, not just one particular population.

The most striking issue at Baskerville is attendance. More than half of its students (53.3%) are chronically absent, meaning they miss 10% or more of the school year. That is the highest rate among all nearby schools, well above the district average of 38.9% and more than double the state average of 24.2%. By comparison, higher-performing schools just across the district line in Nash County Public Schools—such as Red Oak Elementary (16.5% chronic absenteeism) and Benvenue Elementary (22.5%)—serve families with nearly identical poverty rates yet post much stronger academic results. Interestingly, Baskerville actually has a favorable student-teacher ratio of 10.4 (lower is better), giving it more adults per student than nearby schools like D.S. Johnson Elementary (18.9) or Winstead Avenue Elementary (22.5). That advantage, however, has not translated into better outcomes.

Academically, Baskerville shows a steep decline as students move through grade levels. Third-grade math proficiency is 39.1%—actually above the district average and better than other Edgecombe elementaries like G.W. Bulluck Elementary—but fourth- and fifth-grade math drops to roughly half that level. Reading follows a similar pattern, falling from 26.1% in third grade to just 11.9% in fifth grade, one of the lowest reading scores in the region. Fifth-grade science is a relative bright spot at 40.5%, much higher than the school's own reading and math scores. While poverty is nearly universal across these Rocky Mount-area schools, the comparison with higher-performing Nash County schools shows that income level alone doesn't determine success—which makes Baskerville's attendance crisis and upper-grade achievement an urgent area for targeted help.