Cliffside Elementary School

Summary:

Cliffside Elementary School is a public elementary school in Cliffside, North Carolina, serving 213 students from kindergarten to 5th grade. The school is part of the Rutherford County Schools district, which is ranked 73 out of 242 school districts in the state and has a 4-star rating.

Cliffside Elementary School consistently outperforms the district and state averages in standardized test scores, particularly in mathematics and science. In the 2023-2024 school year, the school ranked 95 out of 1,505 North Carolina elementary schools, placing it in the top 6.3%. The school's performance is especially strong among low socioeconomic status (SES) students and male students, ranking 10th and 50th, respectively, out of over 1,400 elementary schools in the state.

When compared to nearby schools within the Rutherford County Schools district, Union Elementary, Rutherfordton Elementary School, and Spindale Elementary School, Cliffside Elementary School stands out as a high-performing institution. While these other schools also demonstrate strong academic performance, Cliffside Elementary consistently ranks higher and achieves higher proficiency rates in core subjects.


Detail:

Public K-5

 4016 US Hwy 221-A
       Cliffside, NC  28024


(828) 288-2235

District: Rutherford County Schools

SchoolDigger Rank:
95th of 1,505 North Carolina Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $11,539 Help


Students who attend Cliffside Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:    Chase Middle School
High:    Chase High School
    Rutherford Early College High School

Student/teacher ratio:  14.2 Help
Number of students:  196

Racial breakdown:

White:
75.0%
Hispanic:
14.3%
African American:
7.7%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  98.5% Help


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Performance Trends
Help
Compare Details Cliffside Elementary School ranks better than 93.7% of elementary schools in North Carolina. It also ranks first among 10 ranked elementary schools in the Rutherford County Schools District! (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 91.48. (See more...)
Student Body
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Compare Details Cliffside Elementary School has the smallest elementary school student body size in the Rutherford County Schools District. Racial makeup is: White (75%), Hispanic (14.3%), African American (7.7%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 98.5% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Cliffside Elementary School is 14.2, which is the 3rd best among 10 elementary schools in the Rutherford County Schools District. (See more...)
Help
Compare Cliffside Elementary School employs 13.7 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Cliffside Elementary School is $11,539, which is the 3rd highest among 10 elementary schools in the Rutherford County Schools District.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Cliffside Elementary School:

SchoolDigger ranks Cliffside Elementary School 95th of 1505 North Carolina public elementary schools. (See Cliffside Elementary School in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Male students:
White students:


Rutherford County Schools:

SchoolDigger ranks Rutherford County Schools 73rd of 242 North Carolina school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for Cliffside Elementary School

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Compare

Rank History for all students at Cliffside Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2006 54.06 643rd 1276 49.6%
2007 47.71 786th 1293 39.2%
2008 47.28 763rd 1324 42.4%
2009 64.16 528th 1354 61.0%
2010 72.69 338th 1363 75.2%
2011 58.44 640th 1381 53.7%
2012 58.46 637th 1388 54.1%
2013 58.75 541st 1403 61.4%
2014 67.33 442nd 1390 68.2%
2015 77.20 284th 1440 80.3%
2016 71.93 363rd 1425 74.5%
2017 66.26 470th 1429 67.1%
2018 73.53 337th 1434 76.5%
2019 78.69 249th 1473 83.1%
2021 65.77 468th 1489 68.6%
2022 85.28 174th 1514 88.5%
2023 80.21 234th 1502 84.4%
2024 91.48 95th 1505 93.7%
See the entire list of North Carolina Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Cliffside Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 86.55 76th 1332 94.3%
2019 92.36 33rd 1361 97.6%
2021 79.38 165th 1329 87.6%
2022 92.33 35th 1366 97.4%
2023 88.96 65th 1437 95.5%
2024 97.95 10th 1450 99.3%
See the entire list of Best North Carolina Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Cliffside Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 70.27 389th 1405 72.3%
2019 82.42 176th 1424 87.6%
2021 72.07 328th 1440 77.2%
2022 85.08 152nd 1458 89.6%
2023 72.88 336th 1459 77.0%
2024 85.28 148th 1455 89.8%
See the entire list of Best North Carolina Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Cliffside Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 58.04 293rd 897 67.3%
See the entire list of Best North Carolina Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Gifted and Talented students at Cliffside Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 65.32 118th 612 80.7%
See the entire list of Best North Carolina Elementary Schools for Gifted and Talented Students!

Rank History for Male students at Cliffside Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 72.87 343rd 1413 75.7%
2019 73.50 312th 1430 78.2%
2021 57.86 579th 1444 59.9%
2022 82.67 191st 1464 87.0%
2023 82.07 199th 1461 86.4%
2024 93.66 50th 1464 96.6%
See the entire list of Best North Carolina Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Cliffside Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 70.29 189th 851 77.8%
See the entire list of Best North Carolina Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Cliffside Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 57.05 521st 1178 55.8%
2019 59.79 468th 1183 60.4%
2021 43.71 670th 1172 42.8%
2022 73.11 280th 1194 76.5%
2023 63.80 408th 1183 65.5%
2024 78.63 215th 1166 81.6%
See the entire list of Best North Carolina Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Cliffside Elementary School Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 





Data source: North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction

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Enrollment information for Cliffside Elementary School

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Compare
Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 288 12 0 2 0 n/a n/a 0 302
1989 280 16 0 1 0 n/a n/a 0 297
1990 286 10 0 4 0 n/a n/a 0 300
1991 300 13 0 3 2 n/a n/a 0 318
1992 302 13 0 3 0 n/a n/a 0 318
1993 321 11 0 4 0 n/a n/a 0 336
1994 311 10 0 3 0 n/a n/a 16 340
1995 305 36 0 9 0 n/a n/a 0 350
1996 305 36 0 9 0 n/a n/a 0 350
1997 376 37 0 8 0 n/a n/a 0 421
1998 396 42 0 10 0 n/a n/a 0 448
1999 374 36 0 13 1 n/a n/a 0 424
2000 396 32 1 13 1 n/a n/a 0 443
2001 399 30 2 8 3 n/a n/a 0 442
2002 411 43 0 10 0 n/a n/a 0 464
2003 411 43 0 10 0 n/a n/a 0 464
2004 388 52 0 19 0 n/a n/a 0 459
2005 409 40 1 27 0 n/a n/a 0 477
2006 420 41 0 22 0 n/a n/a 0 483
2007 395 43 1 25 0 n/a n/a 10 474
2008 376 35 1 27 0 n/a n/a 12 451
2009 357 40 1 26 0 n/a n/a 0 424
2010 345 38 2 24 0 n/a n/a 0 409
2011 322 18 1 32 0 0 22 0 395
2012 308 18 3 36 0 0 21 0 386
2013 308 18 0 36 0 0 16 0 378
2014 288 10 0 41 1 0 15 0 355
2015 255 13 1 36 0 0 14 0 319
2016 255 8 0 35 0 0 16 0 314
2017 239 13 0 36 1 0 13 0 302
2018 226 10 0 39 1 0 6 0 282
2019 215 13 0 38 1 0 6 0 273
2020 173 18 0 32 0 0 14 0 237
2021 161 15 0 34 1 0 9 0 220
2022 153 17 0 31 0 0 7 0 208
2023 156 17 0 30 1 0 9 0 213
2024 147 15 0 28 1 0 5 0 196

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Cliffside Elementary School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 302 16.0 18.8 20.5
1989 297 16.0 18.5 20.2
1990 300 16.0 18.7 24.7
1991 318 16.0 19.8 23.3
1992 318 16.0 19.8 18.9
1993 336 17.0 19.8 31.8
1994 340 18.0 18.9 31.8
1995 350 19.0 18.4 50.6
1996 350 19.0 18.4 50.6
1997 421 21.0 20.0 42.3
1998 448 24.0 18.7 44.2
1999 424 24.0 17.7 59.7
2000 443 24.0 18.5 53
2001 442 24.0 18.4 64.5
2002 464 24.0 19.3 70.5
2003 464 24.0 19.3 70.5
2004 459 24.0 19.1 79.3
2005 477 24.0 19.9 74
2006 483 24.0 20.1 56.9
2007 474 n/a n/a 65.7
2008 451 26.6 17.0 64.9
2009 424 26.5 16.0 59.2
2010 409 24.4 16.7 72.1
2011 395 24.6 16.0 69.9
2012 386 23.5 16.4 71.5
2013 378 24.3 15.5 79.9
2014 355 23.3 15.2 81.1
2015 319 22.0 14.5 99.1
2016 314 21.0 14.9 99
2017 302 18.9 15.9 99
2018 282 19.5 14.4 97.5
2019 273 17.9 15.1 98.9
2020 237 15.8 14.9 98.7
2021 220 15.9 13.8 98.6
2022 208 17.3 12.0 98.6
2023 213 17.3 12.2 98.6
2024 196 13.7 14.2 98.5

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Cliffside Elementary School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 302 16.0 18.8 20.5
1989 297 16.0 18.5 20.2
1990 300 16.0 18.7 24.7
1991 318 16.0 19.8 23.3
1992 318 16.0 19.8 18.9
1993 336 17.0 19.8 31.8
1994 340 18.0 18.9 31.8
1995 350 19.0 18.4 50.6
1996 350 19.0 18.4 50.6
1997 421 21.0 20.0 42.3
1998 448 24.0 18.7 44.2
1999 424 24.0 17.7 59.7
2000 443 24.0 18.5 53
2001 442 24.0 18.4 64.5
2002 464 24.0 19.3 70.5
2003 464 24.0 19.3 70.5
2004 459 24.0 19.1 79.3
2005 477 24.0 19.9 74
2006 483 24.0 20.1 56.9
2007 474 n/a n/a 65.7
2008 451 26.6 17.0 64.9
2009 424 26.5 16.0 59.2
2010 409 24.4 16.7 72.1
2011 395 24.6 16.0 69.9
2012 386 23.5 16.4 71.5
2013 378 24.3 15.5 79.9
2014 355 23.3 15.2 81.1
2015 319 22.0 14.5 99.1
2016 314 21.0 14.9 99
2017 302 18.9 15.9 99
2018 282 19.5 14.4 97.5
2019 273 17.9 15.1 98.9
2020 237 15.8 14.9 98.7
2021 220 15.9 13.8 98.6
2022 208 17.3 12.0 98.6
2023 213 17.3 12.2 98.6
2024 196 13.7 14.2 98.5

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for Cliffside Elementary School

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YearExpenditures from Federal FundsExpenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $1,925 (16.7%) $9,614 (83.3%) $11,539

Data source: North Carolina Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Cliffside Elementary School

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 249th of 1473 Elementary schoolsRanks 234th of 1502 Elementary schools
 1.3%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade Mathematics (Cliffside Elementary School)77.376.9
 0.4%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Rutherford County Schools)77.677.2
 0.4%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (North Carolina)64.361.1
 3.2%
3rd Grade Reading (Cliffside Elementary School)54.557.7
 3.2%
   3rd Grade Reading (Rutherford County Schools)61.849.5
 12.3%
   3rd Grade Reading (North Carolina)56.848
 8.8%
4th Grade Mathematics (Cliffside Elementary School)74.582.1
 7.6%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Rutherford County Schools)67.267.7
 0.5%
   4th Grade Mathematics (North Carolina)57.355.3
 2%
4th Grade Reading (Cliffside Elementary School)68.666.7
 1.9%
   4th Grade Reading (Rutherford County Schools)6660.7
 5.3%
   4th Grade Reading (North Carolina)57.355.3
 2%
5th Grade Mathematics (Cliffside Elementary School)74.470.6
 3.8%
   5th Grade Mathematics (Rutherford County Schools)66.868.9
 2.1%
   5th Grade Mathematics (North Carolina)60.255.9
 4.3%
5th Grade Reading (Cliffside Elementary School)81.458.8
 22.6%
   5th Grade Reading (Rutherford County Schools)6155.6
 5.4%
   5th Grade Reading (North Carolina)54.648
 6.6%
5th Grade Science (Cliffside Elementary School)88.476.5
 11.9%
   5th Grade Science (Rutherford County Schools)81.680.6
 1%
   5th Grade Science (North Carolina)72.665.3
 7.3%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students273213
 22%
African American1317
 30.8%
American Indian11
Asian00
Hispanic3830
 21.1%
Pacific Islander00
White215156
 27.4%
Two or More Races69
 50%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients98.9%98.6%
 0.3%


Schools Near Cliffside Elementary School









Frequently Asked Questions about Cliffside Elementary School

In the 2023-24 school year, 196 students attended Cliffside Elementary School.

Students at Cliffside Elementary School are 75% White, 14% Hispanic, 8% African American, 3% Two or more races.

Yes. Cliffside Elementary School ranks in the top 6.3% of North Carolina elementary schools.

Students who attend Cliffside Elementary School usually go on to attend:

Middle : Chase Middle School
High : Chase High School
High : Rutherford Early College High School


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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