The top reported proficiency rate is 46% in Science. The lowest is 39% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on John Small Elementary
John Small Elementary serves fourth and fifth graders in Washington, North Carolina, a small coastal city anchored by the Pamlico River and home to a compact historic downtown. The school sits outside that walkable Harbor District, on North Market Street Extension, in the part of town where schools and county administration occupy separate campuses from civic life.
The school enrolls a small group of students drawn almost entirely from low-income households. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is racially mixed: roughly equal portions Black and white students, with a substantial share identifying as Hispanic, and a smaller group of multi-racial and Asian students. The two grades—fourth and fifth—are evenly split in enrollment.
State testing results for the most recent school year show proficiency below the midpoint across all three tested subjects. In English language arts, around four in ten students scored at proficiency. Math results were similar. Science showed modestly higher proficiency, though still below half the tested population. These numbers suggest that a substantial portion of fourth and fifth graders at John Small are not yet meeting grade-level standards in core academics. A parent may want to discuss with the school what support systems exist for students below proficiency and what the pathway looks like for catching students up as they move through the upper elementary grades.
The school is part of Beaufort County Schools, a small district currently in the midst of a major elementary reorganization. Eastern Elementary and John Cotten Tayloe Elementary are being consolidated into a single new PreK-3 building expected to open in August 2026, a structural change that will reshape where younger students attend school across the county. Additionally, the entire Beaufort County PreK-5 teaching force has completed or is completing LETRS training, the state's mandated Science of Reading professional development. This represents a district-wide instructional shift in how reading is taught in early grades, with direct bearing on how students like those at John Small learn foundational literacy skills.
At the state level, North Carolina has also just implemented a cellphone restriction during instructional time, effective for the current school year. All Beaufort County schools, including John Small, must enforce this policy.
John Small Elementary serves a student population with substantial economic need and mixed academic outcomes at the point of measurement. The school operates within a district managing significant structural change and implementing statewide reading science mandates. For families in Washington considering this school, the relevant questions are about the concrete supports available to students working below grade level, how the school is operationalizing the Science of Reading training in its classrooms, and whether the school's culture and resources align with what their child needs.
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