The top reported proficiency rate is 69% in Science. The lowest is 53% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Hazelwood Elementary
Hazelwood Elementary is a regular public elementary school serving pre-K through fifth grade in Waynesville, North Carolina, a small mountain town in Haywood County. The school serves a student body that is nearly entirely economically disadvantaged, with a vast majority of families qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The enrollment is small to mid-sized for its grade span, with the greatest concentration of students in the upper elementary grades. The student population is predominantly white, with a meaningful share identifying as Hispanic and smaller counts of multiracial and Asian students; state data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available.
On state end-of-grade assessments, Hazelwood's proficiency results show a mixed academic picture. In math, proficiency meets or exceeds the standard at a rate around the lower-to-middle range for its grade band. Science performance is stronger, with proficiency approaching the upper range. English language arts is the soft spot: proficiency falls below the midpoint, meaning that roughly half of students tested did not reach grade-level standard. A parent reviewing these results may want to discuss with the school what supports are in place for reading and writing development, particularly in the earlier grades where foundational skills take root. Trend data was not available to show whether performance has been improving or declining.
Hazelwood sits on Plott Creek Road in Waynesville proper, one of five elementary schools serving the Haywood County school system. Waynesville itself is a walkable, historic small town with a vibrant downtown Main Street lined with locally owned shops, galleries, restaurants and breweries, and a strong identity around tourism and Appalachian culture. The town has been experiencing rapid housing development over the past few years, with numerous apartment and townhome projects underway or recently completed. However, this growth is creating affordability tension; median household income in the area runs well below the cost of newly built housing, and town council approval of the Queen Farm subdivision expansion drew public objection over the loss of farmland and concerns about housing becoming unaffordable to local workers.
The broader county context carries two significant realities that shape school operations and resources. In 2023, the Pactiv Evergreen paper mill in Canton, the county's largest employer, closed, eliminating large numbers of jobs and stripping substantial assessed property valuation from the tax base. The following year, Hurricane Helene caused severe flooding damage to school facilities including athletic fields and structural damage to Central Haywood High School, which had to be demolished. Together, these events have tightened school funding; the county is using fund balance reserves to avoid raising property tax rates, and enrollment has declined as families have left the area. Parents should expect that capital budgets for schools will remain constrained for the foreseeable future as the district absorbs these fiscal headwinds.
Hazelwood's immediate context in Waynesville is a town in transition, growing rapidly while at the same time facing the economic shocks of mill closure and storm damage in the broader county. The school itself serves a highly economically vulnerable population, and its English language arts performance suggests that early literacy support warrants close attention. For a family considering Waynesville, these are important reference points: a walkable, culturally alive town with strong community events, paired with a school system under genuine fiscal and enrollment pressure.
See more original research from School Decision →