Regular local school district · McDowell County
McDowell County Schools, NC: schools, enrollment and spending
McDowell County Schools runs 15 public schools with 5,792 students in grades PK to 13. Its ratio of 15.2 students per teacher is 1.1 lower than the North Carolina figure of 16.3.
At a glance
- Schools
- 15
- Students
- 5,792
- Teachers (FTE)
- 380
- Students per teacher
- 15.2
- NC: 16.3 · US: 15.3
- Address
- 334 South Main St, Marion, NC 28752
- Phone
- (828)652-4535
- County
- McDowell County
- Locale
- Rural: Fringe
- Grades offered
- PK to 13
- Agency type
- Regular local school district
- NCES district ID
- 3702940
- State district ID
- NC-590
- School counselors (FTE)
- 17.0About 341 students per counselor.
Students per teacher compared
This district15.2
North Carolina16.3
United States15.3
2020 finance data
From the F-33 School District Finance Survey for fiscal year 2020, in nominal dollars. Enrollment used for per-pupil figures is the finance survey count (5,702), which can differ from 2024-25 enrollment.
- Total revenue
- $65.1 million
- Federal revenue
- $8.6 million
- State revenue
- $45.6 million
- Local revenue
- $10.8 million
- Total spending
- $66.4 million
- Spending per pupil
- $11,642
- Salaries
- $39.2 million59.1% of total spending.
- Long-term debt (end of year)
- $8.3 million
Where revenue came from
- Federal: 13.3%
- State: 70.1%
- Local: 16.7%
North Carolina overall
- Federal: 12.1%
- State: 61.7%
- Local: 26.2%
Spending per pupil compared
This district$11,642
North Carolina$11,869
United States$16,826
Schools in McDowell County Schools
By level: 4 high, 3 middle, 8 elementary. A CEP school serves free meals to all students.
| East McDowell Middle School | Middle | 6 to 8 | 392 | 11.5 |
| Eastfield Global Magnet School | Elementary | PK to 5 | 279 | 13.3 |
| Foothills Community School | Middle | 6 to 8 | 200 | 18.2 |
| Glenwood Elementary School | Elementary | PK to 5 | 435 | 16.1 |
| Marion Elementary School | Elementary | PK to 5 | 333 | 15.1 |
| McDowell Academy for Innovation | High | 9 to 13 | 158 | 22.6 |
| McDowell Early College | High | 9 to 13 | 241 | 20.1 |
| McDowell High School | High | 9 to 12 | 1,379 | 15.9 |
| Nebo Elementary School | Elementary | PK to 5 | 354 | 16.1 |
| North Cove Elementary School | Elementary | PK to 5 | 230 | 15.3 |
| Old Fort Elementary School | Elementary | PK to 5 | 360 | 15.7 |
| Pleasant Gardens Elementary School | Elementary | PK to 5 | 289 | 13.8 |
| The Summit Academy | High | 6 to 12 | 23 | 5.8 |
| West Marion Elementary School | Elementary | PK to 5 | 390 | 14.4 |
| West McDowell Middle School | Middle | 6 to 8 | 550 | 15.7 |
Nearby and related
More in North Carolina
Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 and F-33 finance 2020, via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. Last reviewed October 2026. Finance figures are 2020 finance data in nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation. Blank values are not available, not applicable or suppressed in the source. See the methodology.