The top reported proficiency rate is 77% in Math. The lowest is 59% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Old Richmond Elementary
Old Richmond Elementary is a prekindergarten through fifth-grade public school located on a rural campus in Tobaccoville, a small incorporated village about fifteen miles northwest of downtown Winston-Salem in northwestern Forsyth County. The village itself is low-density residential, anchored historically by tobacco farming and dominated economically by the R.J. Reynolds Tobaccoville manufacturing plant, which is expanding and adding jobs. The school draws from a community of modest means: nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is racially and ethnically mixed, with white students forming a bare majority, followed by Black students, Hispanic students, and smaller numbers of Asian and multiracial students.
Academically, Old Richmond's results on state end-of-grade tests paint a mixed picture. In mathematics, roughly three-quarters of third through fifth graders tested met or exceeded proficiency. Science proficiency was also solid, with about seven in ten reaching proficient levels. English language arts is the softer subject: about six in ten students achieved proficiency, a meaningful gap from math. These are real students; the tested cohort in grades three through five comprised about two hundred, and the school's overall enrollment sits at around four hundred across all grade levels. The science results are based on a smaller tested group, and the state changed the science assessment this year, making direct year-to-year comparison unclear. No trend data was available, so it is not possible to tell whether these results represent improvement, decline, or stability over time.
The school is part of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools district, a mid-sized urban-suburban system serving the greater Winston-Salem area. The district has managed significant capital constraints in recent years. Three major bond projects were postponed in 2022 due to construction cost inflation, though the county later provided additional funding to preserve the remaining renovation slate. The district recently adopted a modified academic calendar that begins in mid-August (earlier than state statute permits) and ends in late May, a schedule change now locked in for 2026-27 that parents should note for childcare and summer program planning.
Housing in the Tobaccoville area is moderately priced by national standards. Larger colonial and New Traditional homes on substantial lots have traded in a certain range, while smaller Craftsman, ranch, and split-level homes on tighter lots occupy a lower band. Mortgage affordability is reasonable relative to national benchmarks, and rent-to-income ratios suggest rental housing is accessible. The area is anchored by owner-occupied single-family homes, most dating from the 1970s and 1980s, with steady infill by smaller custom builders rather than tract developments. Population growth is slow, though the Reynolds expansion and the opening of the I-74 beltway in 2025 may influence future residential demand.
Old Richmond sits in a rural-suburban setting where families are car-dependent, and civic life centers on Village Park rather than a walkable town center. The school serves the lower elementary grades only, so families should expect transitions to Northwest Middle School and then Ronald Wilson Reagan High School as their children advance. Particular families in the northernmost part of the village may feed instead into Stokes County Schools. For parents choosing or considering this school, the main academic reality is that math and science are performing reasonably well while reading and language arts need attention; the economic context is one of substantial economic need and stability anchored by a major regional employer; and the setting is quiet, car-dependent, and small-town in character.
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