Brooks Elementary

Brooks Elementary is a PK–5 school in Raleigh, NC, serving 471 students in the Wake County Schools district, where it currently ranks in the 64th percentile of North Carolina elementary schools with a 3-star rating. That marks a solid rebound from a difficult 2022-2023 year, when the school sat at the 32nd percentile, and it has climbed steadily every year since—though it remains below its peak from a decade ago and below nearby high performers such as Jeffreys Grove, Lacy, and Root.

Brooks is strongest in early reading: third-grade reading proficiency beat both the district and state averages, and fourth-grade reading matched the district. Upper-elementary math and science are the bigger concerns—fifth-grade math trails the district by about 12 points, and fifth-grade science and reading also fall short. With roughly 47 percent of students eligible for free or reduced lunch, the school sits between two very different groups of nearby schools. It serves a more economically disadvantaged population than Jeffreys Grove or Lacy, yet it clearly outperforms Green and Millbrook, two nearby schools where nearly every student qualifies for free lunch and both rank in the bottom 20 percent statewide. Class sizes are relatively small, with a student-teacher ratio near 13 to 1.

The school's overall rank, though, hides wide variation in how different student groups perform. White students and special-education students at Brooks score well relative to state peers, while outcomes for low-income students, English learners, and African American students place in the state's lowest percentiles—an internal gap worth watching closely. Recent results were also dragged down by one weak cohort that struggled in math and science from third through fifth grade; the next class improved markedly in fifth-grade math, but another year of data will show whether that progress holds. Chronic absenteeism is also a concern: at 21 percent, it matches nearby Lynn Road and Douglas, but it has risen for two straight years and now sits just above the district average.