Summary
Mount Vernon is a very small K-8 school in Raleigh, NC, serving just 70 students in the Wake County Schools district, where nearly all families face economic hardship. The school is unlike a typical neighborhood elementary: 95.7% of its students qualify for free/reduced-price lunch, a poverty rate 28 percentage points higher than the highest-poverty nearby school, Reedy Creek Elementary. Nearby schools such as Lacy Elementary and Stough Elementary have poverty rates of just 24–33%. The school's tiny enrollment, K–8 span, and unusually intensive staffing suggest a specialized program serving a much higher-need population.
Academic proficiency is far below district and state averages. Just 11.1% of 7th graders were proficient in math versus the Wake County Schools average of 66.4%, and 8th-grade reading reached only 27.7% compared with 65.4% districtwide. Even the best subject, 8th-grade science, trailed the district by about 25 points. Nearby schools tell a different story: Olds Elementary, Lacy Elementary, Stough Elementary, and Cary Elementary all rank in the 84th–87th percentile statewide, with typical proficiency above 70–80%. Chronic absenteeism is extreme: 61.6% of Mount Vernon students were chronically absent in 2024–2025, triple the districtwide average of 20.5% and more than double the 27.3% at Reedy Creek Elementary. Nearby Olds Elementary and Cary Elementary, by contrast, report just 11.4% and 9.7%.
Mount Vernon has historically earned 0-star ratings; its final ranking, in 2018–2019, placed it dead last among North Carolina's 1,473 schools, and no recent rating exists, likely due to very small tested cohorts. Its resources tell a more complex story: per-student spending reached about $39,441 in 2018–2019, roughly four times nearby schools' spending, and the student–teacher ratio is just 2.6 versus 12–15 elsewhere. With six in ten students chronically absent, even intensive, individualized support will struggle to produce proficiency gains. Notably, the only available subgroup ranking, for students with disabilities, placed the school at the 41st percentile statewide, suggesting it may serve its high-need population better than overall scores imply. The school is not a typical neighborhood school, and its performance should be understood in that context.
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