NCES CCD 2024-25 6 schools NC

Best-Resourced Schools in Dallas, NC

6 public K-12 schools in Dallas from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.

6
Schools
3,183
Students
43/100
Avg Resource Index
20.2:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Compact, single-district system

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Dallas has more public-school enrollment than 32% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Dallas's 6 listed schools all sit inside one district, creating a compact governance structure with one budget, board, and reporting chain. That makes citywide comparisons cleaner than in places split across several districts, but it does not make the campuses interchangeable: elementary, middle, and high-school staffing needs differ. The ranked list is best read as variation inside one system rather than competition among separate local authorities.

Secondary campuses occupy an unusually large share

3 of the 6 listed Dallas schools are classified as high schools, a substantial share of the local portfolio. Advanced-course access, counseling, and graduation-stage staffing therefore have more weight in the city Resource Index average than they do in an elementary-heavy system.

High measured need meets a thin staffing ratio

Dallas's reporting schools show 66.3% free-lunch eligibility across measured enrollment, alongside an average 20.2:1 student-teacher ratio. These are separate constraints: one describes the economic context of enrolled students and the other compares student and teacher headcounts. The 25-point gap between Gaston Early College of Medical Sciences and North Gaston High is therefore more useful than the city mean alone. A school with a similar ratio may still report different counselor access, attendance, or gifted-program availability, so open the campus records before drawing conclusions about student support.

City enrollment
Top 68%
School count
Top 79%
Resource Index average
60th percentile
Teacher staffing
15th percentile

North Gaston High accounts for 33.3% of all Dallas public-school enrollment

That dominant concentration means Dallas-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade level: High. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how districts allocate programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Dallas school enrollment varies 6.1× across entities

Dallas school enrollment ranges from 174 students (lowest) to 1,061 students (highest), a spread of 887 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous school portfolio for a city this size. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Dallas reports 66.3% free-lunch eligibility

The reported share sits between 62.5% and 75%, above a simple majority but below the highest descriptive band used here. Title I operates under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), but its statutory allocation uses additional LEA-level counts and rules not represented by this average. This percentage is an economic-need context measure; it does not establish a Title I award, show dollars received, or describe how funds are distributed among campuses.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Dallas operates one school district — a single-district system

Dallas's listed schools share one district boundary, budget authority, and reporting chain. That makes citywide and districtwide governance easier to compare, but it does not make individual campuses uniform: grade configuration, staffing, programs, and student need can still vary materially within the same school district.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Dallas student-teacher ratio is 20.2:1 — high (typically associated with larger urban scale or staffing constraints that have widened the headcount gap)

student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Dallas

Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.

  1. 1 Carr Elementary 69.7/100
  2. 2 North Gaston High 68.4/100
  3. 3 W C Friday Middle School 67.6/100
  4. 4 Gaston Early College of Medical Sciences 66.8/100
  5. 5 Gaston Early College High School 62.4/100

What do families ask about schools in Dallas?

Which Dallas school has the highest Resource Investment Index?

Gaston Early College of Medical Sciences has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Dallas schools in this federal-data comparison at 56/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Dallas, NC?

Dallas has 6 public schools with a total enrollment of 3,183 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 20.2:1.

Other Cities in North Carolina

Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in North Carolina →

Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.