Speas Elementary

Speas Elementary is a large PK–5 public school in Winston-Salem serving 793 students, part of Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools, and sits in a compact neighborhood where some of North Carolina's highest- and lowest-performing elementary schools are just miles apart. Despite 99.6% of its students qualifying for free/reduced-price lunch, Speas has climbed from the bottom of the state's elementary rankings a decade ago into the middle of the pack, currently performing near district and state averages.

Speas's improvement over the past decade is striking: it ranked in the 10th–21st percentile statewide from 2015 to 2019, reached the 52nd–62nd percentile in 2023–2025, and slipped modestly to the 45th percentile most recently. It remains far ahead of nearby high-poverty schools — North Hills Elementary, Cook Literacy Model School, Kimberley Park Elementary, and Forsyth Academy all serve similarly impoverished student bodies yet rank near the bottom statewide, with average proficiency 15–34 points lower. Speas also keeps chronic absenteeism at 18.4% — well below the district's 33.6% and far closer to Sherwood Forest Elementary and Whitaker Elementary than to its struggling neighbors. That said, Jefferson Elementary, with virtually identical poverty at 99.5%, ranks in the 87th percentile statewide and outperforms Speas by roughly 19 points — proof that much more is possible.

The biggest concern is equity across student groups. Speas has served its White and Hispanic students comparatively well, with White students ranking around the 88th percentile statewide, but the most recent year brought sharp drops for several groups: African American students fell from the 59th to 15th percentile, low-income students from 30th to 14th, English learners from 58th to 28th, and gifted students from the 61st to 20th. Reading has been a relative strength in recent years, and the school's attendance advantage is genuinely valuable in a district where chronic absenteeism is rampant. Still, families should watch whether these subgroup declines become permanent, as they suggest recent gains may not be reaching every child.