Harris Elementary School

Summary:

Harris Elementary School is a public elementary school located in Forest City, North Carolina, serving grades PK-5 with a student population of 445. The school is part of the Rutherford County Schools district, which is ranked 73 out of 242 districts in North Carolina and has a 4-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Harris Elementary consistently outperforms the Rutherford County Schools district and the state of North Carolina in standardized test scores across all grade levels and subjects. In the 2023-2024 school year, 84.1% of 3rd graders were proficient or better in Mathematics, compared to 76.6% for the district and 62.7% for the state. The school also had strong performance in 5th grade Science, with 75.8% proficient or better, compared to 78.5% for the district and 66.2% for the state. Despite having an exceptionally high percentage of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, with 99.33% qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, Harris Elementary consistently ranks among the top schools in North Carolina for low-income students, ranking 53rd out of 1,450 elementary schools in the state for this subgroup in 2023-2024.

When compared to other nearby elementary schools in the Rutherford County district, Harris Elementary stands out as a top performer, often outranking its peers in academic achievement and student growth. For example, Sunshine Elementary, located 13.25 miles away, has a similar demographic makeup but lags behind Harris Elementary in several key metrics, such as Mathematics and Reading proficiency.


Detail:

Public PK, KG-5

 3330 US 221 S Hwy
       Forest City, NC  28043-9803


(828) 248-2354

District: Rutherford County Schools

SchoolDigger Rank:
232nd of 1,505 North Carolina Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $9,551 Help


Students who attend Harris Elementary School usually attend:

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

Student/teacher ratio:  14.8 Help
Number of students:  440

Racial breakdown:

White:
79.8%
Hispanic:
10.9%
Two or more races:
7.7%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  99.3% Help


 See top rated North Carolina elementary schools

 Compare Harris Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends
Help
Compare Details Harris Elementary School ranks better than 84.6% of elementary schools in North Carolina. It also ranks 2nd 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 80.6. (See more...)
Student Body
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Compare Details Racial makeup is: White (79.8%), Hispanic (10.9%), two or more races (7.7%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 99.3% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Harris Elementary School is 14.8. 5 elementary schools in the Rutherford County Schools District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)
Help
Compare Harris Elementary School employs 29.5 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Harris Elementary School is $9,551, which is the lowest among 10 elementary schools in the Rutherford County Schools District!
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Harris Elementary School:

SchoolDigger ranks Harris Elementary School 232nd of 1505 North Carolina public elementary schools. (See Harris Elementary School in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


Special Education students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Gifted and Talented 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 Harris Elementary School

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Rank History for all students at Harris Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2006 39.49 871st 1276 31.7%
2007 45.99 808th 1293 37.5%
2008 52.36 676th 1324 48.9%
2009 72.31 351st 1354 74.1%
2010 71.58 363rd 1363 73.4%
2011 72.81 343rd 1381 75.2%
2012 68.99 429th 1388 69.1%
2013 43.17 781st 1403 44.3%
2014 58.59 562nd 1390 59.6%
2015 71.49 386th 1440 73.2%
2016 69.23 410th 1425 71.2%
2017 75.66 312th 1429 78.2%
2018 81.25 204th 1434 85.8%
2019 70.25 402nd 1473 72.7%
2021 71.59 377th 1489 74.7%
2022 71.55 378th 1514 75.0%
2023 81.55 210th 1502 86.0%
2024 80.60 232nd 1505 84.6%
See the entire list of North Carolina Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Special Education students at Harris Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2024 31.33 574th 801 28.3%
See the entire list of Best North Carolina Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

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

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 88.71 54th 1332 95.9%
2019 67.49 352nd 1361 74.1%
2021 80.65 143rd 1329 89.2%
2022 84.41 94th 1366 93.1%
2023 89.26 62nd 1437 95.7%
2024 89.87 53rd 1450 96.3%
See the entire list of Best North Carolina Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Harris Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 78.80 243rd 1405 82.7%
2019 68.29 418th 1424 70.6%
2021 65.16 431st 1440 70.1%
2022 68.20 406th 1458 72.2%
2023 75.36 286th 1459 80.4%
2024 80.86 203rd 1455 86.0%
See the entire list of Best North Carolina Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Harris Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 66.48 188th 897 79.0%
2019 47.60 402nd 878 54.2%
See the entire list of Best North Carolina Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Gifted and Talented students at Harris Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 65.81 95th 612 84.5%
2021 70.72 103rd 494 79.1%
2022 69.59 88th 500 82.4%
2023 61.71 247th 582 57.6%
2024 70.25 61st 669 90.9%
See the entire list of Best North Carolina Elementary Schools for Gifted and Talented Students!

Rank History for Male students at Harris Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 81.66 192nd 1413 86.4%
2019 69.82 376th 1430 73.7%
2021 74.26 333rd 1444 76.9%
2022 71.93 356th 1464 75.7%
2023 83.14 181st 1461 87.6%
2024 76.33 281st 1464 80.8%
See the entire list of Best North Carolina Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for White students at Harris Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 61.99 451st 1178 61.7%
2019 45.71 684th 1183 42.2%
2021 49.98 575th 1172 50.9%
2022 56.08 528th 1194 55.8%
2023 64.20 400th 1183 66.2%
2024 63.33 406th 1166 65.2%
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.

Harris 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 Harris Elementary School

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 747 47 4 0 0 n/a n/a 0 798
1989 731 40 1 2 0 n/a n/a 0 774
1990 708 46 0 1 0 n/a n/a 0 755
1991 670 55 0 6 0 n/a n/a 0 731
1992 639 47 0 5 0 n/a n/a 0 691
1993 638 44 0 9 0 n/a n/a 0 691
1994 629 52 0 8 0 n/a n/a 0 689
1995 554 30 0 15 0 n/a n/a 0 599
1996 554 30 0 15 0 n/a n/a 0 599
1997 549 32 0 7 0 n/a n/a 0 588
1998 603 26 0 13 0 n/a n/a 0 642
1999 591 24 0 9 0 n/a n/a 0 624
2000 602 20 0 9 0 n/a n/a 0 631
2001 615 24 0 12 0 n/a n/a 0 651
2002 614 40 0 24 3 n/a n/a 0 681
2003 614 40 0 24 3 n/a n/a 0 681
2004 593 39 0 20 0 n/a n/a 0 652
2005 562 31 0 27 0 n/a n/a 0 620
2006 548 25 0 24 0 n/a n/a 0 597
2007 579 12 2 34 0 n/a n/a 11 638
2008 539 14 2 32 n/a n/a n/a 12 599
2009 485 30 2 27 0 n/a n/a 0 544
2010 479 36 2 32 1 n/a n/a 0 550
2011 449 15 0 32 1 0 21 0 518
2012 456 16 1 34 2 0 20 0 529
2013 414 18 1 34 2 0 23 0 492
2014 395 21 0 27 2 1 26 0 472
2015 434 26 0 5 9 0 24 0 498
2016 420 15 0 9 9 0 26 0 479
2017 403 8 0 14 3 0 32 0 460
2018 412 16 0 23 2 0 34 0 487
2019 406 9 2 29 1 0 32 0 479
2020 387 7 2 39 1 0 28 0 464
2021 351 6 0 41 2 0 31 0 431
2022 378 12 0 39 1 0 24 0 454
2023 365 6 0 41 1 0 32 0 445
2024 351 6 0 48 1 0 34 0 440

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 Harris Elementary School

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Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 798 37.0 21.5 15.8
1989 774 37.0 20.9 28.7
1990 755 39.0 19.3 24.2
1991 731 39.0 18.7 25
1992 691 39.0 17.7 18.4
1993 691 38.0 18.2 21.1
1994 689 37.0 18.6 25
1995 599 34.0 17.6 21.9
1996 599 34.0 17.6 21.9
1997 588 34.0 17.3 26
1998 642 36.0 17.8 24.6
1999 624 38.0 16.4 36.9
2000 631 38.0 16.6 44.2
2001 651 38.0 17.1 37.5
2002 681 38.0 17.9 44.1
2003 681 38.0 17.9 44.1
2004 652 38.0 17.2 50.5
2005 620 38.0 16.3 52.7
2006 597 38.0 15.7 51.1
2007 638 n/a n/a 53.4
2008 599 38.6 15.5 57.4
2009 544 37.5 14.5 57.7
2010 550 33.4 16.5 61.1
2011 518 32.2 16.0 63.5
2012 529 29.6 17.8 66.2
2013 492 29.7 16.5 63.2
2014 472 29.3 16.0 74.4
2015 498 30.0 16.6 99.4
2016 479 30.0 15.9 99.2
2017 460 28.1 16.3 99.3
2018 487 27.1 17.9 98.6
2019 479 28.8 16.6 99.4
2020 464 29.6 15.6 98.9
2021 431 29.6 14.5 99.3
2022 454 32.2 14.0 99.3
2023 445 32.2 13.7 99.3
2024 440 29.5 14.8 99.3

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 Harris Elementary School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 798 37.0 21.5 15.8
1989 774 37.0 20.9 28.7
1990 755 39.0 19.3 24.2
1991 731 39.0 18.7 25
1992 691 39.0 17.7 18.4
1993 691 38.0 18.2 21.1
1994 689 37.0 18.6 25
1995 599 34.0 17.6 21.9
1996 599 34.0 17.6 21.9
1997 588 34.0 17.3 26
1998 642 36.0 17.8 24.6
1999 624 38.0 16.4 36.9
2000 631 38.0 16.6 44.2
2001 651 38.0 17.1 37.5
2002 681 38.0 17.9 44.1
2003 681 38.0 17.9 44.1
2004 652 38.0 17.2 50.5
2005 620 38.0 16.3 52.7
2006 597 38.0 15.7 51.1
2007 638 n/a n/a 53.4
2008 599 38.6 15.5 57.4
2009 544 37.5 14.5 57.7
2010 550 33.4 16.5 61.1
2011 518 32.2 16.0 63.5
2012 529 29.6 17.8 66.2
2013 492 29.7 16.5 63.2
2014 472 29.3 16.0 74.4
2015 498 30.0 16.6 99.4
2016 479 30.0 15.9 99.2
2017 460 28.1 16.3 99.3
2018 487 27.1 17.9 98.6
2019 479 28.8 16.6 99.4
2020 464 29.6 15.6 98.9
2021 431 29.6 14.5 99.3
2022 454 32.2 14.0 99.3
2023 445 32.2 13.7 99.3
2024 440 29.5 14.8 99.3

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 Harris Elementary School

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YearExpenditures from Federal FundsExpenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $1,364 (14.3%) $8,186 (85.7%) $9,550

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

Impact of COVID-19 on Harris 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 402nd of 1473 Elementary schoolsRanks 210th of 1502 Elementary schools
 13.3%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade Mathematics (Harris Elementary School)9082.1
 7.9%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Rutherford County Schools)77.677.2
 0.4%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (North Carolina)64.361.1
 3.2%
3rd Grade Reading (Harris Elementary School)83.362.5
 20.8%
   3rd Grade Reading (Rutherford County Schools)61.849.5
 12.3%
   3rd Grade Reading (North Carolina)56.848
 8.8%
4th Grade Mathematics (Harris Elementary School)57.581.3
 23.8%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Rutherford County Schools)67.267.7
 0.5%
   4th Grade Mathematics (North Carolina)57.355.3
 2%
4th Grade Reading (Harris Elementary School)67.573.4
 5.9%
   4th Grade Reading (Rutherford County Schools)6660.7
 5.3%
   4th Grade Reading (North Carolina)57.355.3
 2%
5th Grade Mathematics (Harris Elementary School)65.970
 4.1%
   5th Grade Mathematics (Rutherford County Schools)66.868.9
 2.1%
   5th Grade Mathematics (North Carolina)60.255.9
 4.3%
5th Grade Reading (Harris Elementary School)57.352.9
 4.4%
   5th Grade Reading (Rutherford County Schools)6155.6
 5.4%
   5th Grade Reading (North Carolina)54.648
 6.6%
5th Grade Science (Harris Elementary School)76.878.6
 1.8%
   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 Students479445
 7.1%
African American96
 33.3%
American Indian11
Asian20
 100%
Hispanic2941
 41.4%
Pacific Islander00
White406365
 10.1%
Two or More Races3232
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients99.4%99.3%
 0%


Schools Near Harris Elementary School









Frequently Asked Questions about Harris Elementary School

Students at Harris Elementary School are 80% White, 11% Hispanic, 8% Two or more races, 1% African American.

In the 2023-24 school year, 440 students attended Harris Elementary School.

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

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

Harris Elementary School ranks 232nd of 1505 North Carolina elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.


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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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