The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in Science. The lowest is 29% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Ibraham Elementary
Ibraham Elementary is a small, exclusively pre-kindergarten-through-fifth-grade school in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools district, located on Old Walkertown Road in one of the city's older residential corridors. The school enrolls roughly the size of a small elementary, with a student body that is about half Black and a third Hispanic, reflecting the racial makeup of its immediate neighborhood. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating high community economic need.
On state end-of-grade assessments given to grades three through five, Ibraham's proficiency results are substantially below what families elsewhere in North Carolina see. In math, roughly one-third of tested students met proficiency; in English language arts, closer to one-quarter. Science proficiency ran slightly higher but still reflects a significant learning gap. These are not borderline or borderline results; they point to a school where the majority of students are not yet meeting grade-level standards in core subjects. The state testing picture here is unambiguous about academic performance at the elementary level, and a parent or prospective resident should ask the school directly what instructional moves or support structures are in place to address these gaps and what progress, if any, the school has documented over recent school years. State data does not include multi-year trends, so the school's trajectory—whether these results are stable, improving, or worsening—is not visible in the available data and would be worth discussing with school leadership.
The school's enrollment is small and spread evenly across its grade band, with slightly more fifth-graders than younger grades. The student population is predominantly economically disadvantaged, which often correlates with schools needing more robust staffing, materials, and intervention time. Whether Ibraham has those resources, or how the district prioritizes support across its elementary portfolio, is not evident from the data provided.
Winston-Salem itself is a mid-sized city that has reversed decades of population decline and now combines a historic downtown, including the Innovation Quarter adaptive-reuse district built from former tobacco warehouses, with stable neighborhoods and a significant healthcare and research presence. Housing costs in the zip code where Ibraham sits are modest relative to the state and nation, making this part of the city accessible to working families. The area has modest pedestrian infrastructure outside downtown, though the broader city has been working to improve walkability and has a public transit system with recent service redesign.
The district itself faced a bond shortfall in 2022 that delayed three projects, though Forsyth County commissioners allocated additional funds in 2023 to keep remaining renovations on track, including work at other elementary schools. The district also recently locked in a modified academic calendar starting August rather than after Labor Day, a change that affects family planning around childcare and summer activities. These are district-level context for parents: they do not directly affect Ibraham's classroom performance, but they reflect the operational pressures and choices shaping the school environment.
A parent considering Ibraham should weigh the school's strong economic and racial diversity against its substantially below-proficiency test results, and should seek direct conversation with the school about instructional strategy, the availability of reading intervention and math support, teacher experience and retention, and whether the school has documented any recent improvements or has a clear plan to raise achievement in coming years.
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