Stovall-shaw Elementary, Stovall NC

Original Research by School Decision on Stovall-shaw Elementary

Stovall-Shaw Elementary serves students in prekindergarten through fifth grade in a small rural setting in northern Granville County. The school enrolls a modest-sized student body drawn from the town of Stovall and surrounding agricultural areas. The community is rural, not particularly walkable, and most residents own their homes. Civic anchors include a park, the Stovall Branch Library with recent outdoor improvements, and the John Penn historical site nearby. The town is growing slowly, with no major new housing developments identified in recent years.

A substantial share of Stovall-Shaw students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic circumstances of the families served. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse, with representation across Black, white, and Hispanic populations, as well as students who identify as multiracial. The school does not appear to serve English learners or students with individualized education plans at reportable rates, though that data was not available in full.

On state assessment results, the school shows uneven performance across subjects. In mathematics, a solid majority of students tested in grades 3 through 5 scored at proficient levels or above. In English language arts and science, proficiency rates were substantially lower. Science results should be read with some caution: the state changed both the assessment itself and the proficiency standard this year, making comparisons to prior years unreliable. These patterns suggest that Stovall-Shaw has particular strength in math instruction but faces challenges in literacy and science. A parent may want to look into the school's approaches and supports in ELA and science, especially if their child needs extra help in those areas.

The district serving Stovall-Shaw, Granville County Schools, covers multiple towns across the county and has made recent operational changes. For the 2026-2027 school year, the district is closing another elementary school and redrawing attendance zones, so families should verify which school their address feeds into going forward. The district offers an open-enrollment system that guarantees every student a seat at their zoned school and also allows application to other GCPS schools with choice programs in areas like STEAM and project-based learning. A new district-wide "Skills Before Screens" initiative in 2026-2027 aims to balance educational technology with direct human connection in classrooms. A sales-and-use tax referendum on the March 2026 ballot would, if approved, fund an increase in teacher pay supplements across the district, a change that could affect teacher retention and stability.

Housing information specific to Stovall proper was not available, though the community is characterized as rural and owner-occupied. Stovall-Shaw itself has no public transportation connections documented.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grades 3-864%

School 64% · District 45% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

English language arts

Grades 3-837%

School 37% · District 40% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Science

Grades 3-839%

School 39% · District 47% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

This schoolGranville County Schools, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income26%Higher-income58%33 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income47%Higher-income60%13 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income24%Higher-income32%8 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income31%Higher-income48%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income71%Higher-income92%20 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income57%Higher-income65%8 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income44%Higher-income77%33 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income58%Higher-income76%18 pp gap