West Lake Elementary

Apex, NC 27539

Phone: (919) 662-2300
Fax: (919) 662-2313
District: Wake County School District

9

GreatSchools Rating

public • Grades PK,KG,1,2,3,4,5 • 566 students

West Lake Elementary, a public school located in Apex, NC, serves grades PK-5 in the Wake County School District.It has received a GreatSchools Rating of 9 out of 10, based on a variety of school quality measures.

West Lake Elementary is a public school located in Apex, NC. 566 students attend West Lake Elementary.

School Ratings

Category Rating Details
Test Scores 8/10 The Test Score Rating examines how students at this school performed on standardized tests compared with other schools in the state. The Test Rating was created using 2025 North Carolina End-of-Course Tests data from North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, and using 2025 North Carolina End-of-Grade Tests data from North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
Student Growth 10/10 The Student Progress Rating measures whether students at this school are making academic progress over time based on student growth data provided by the Department of Education. Specifically, this rating looks at how much progress individual students have made on state assessments during the past year or more, how this performance aligns with expected progress based on a student growth model established by the state Department of Education, and how this school's growth data compares to other schools in the state. The Growth Rating was created using 2024 Student growth data from North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Posted: March 20, 2024

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Posted: March 20, 2024

2 of my 3 boys have been to WLES and they love/loved it! Everyone is so friendly.
The talking points app makes it easy to communicate with your child's teacher.
I do wish security was tighter as I worry about my children in today's world.
Carpool in the afternoon is a little chaotic sometimes which is understandable.
Not all cones have kids ready to let the other kids into the car because they are not paying attention and/or havw lwdt rheir cone..Safety should be key!
Principal, teachers and staff are all kind and the school is very clean and inviting!
Keep up the good work West Lake Wallabies!!

Posted: January 6, 2022

Positives: Kind staff that is upbeat and friendly that instills positive leadership values.

Negatives: school wide no homework policy (how can you know how well your child is doing without seeing where they are academically?), lack of encouraged parent involvement, lack of communication from teachers regarding student progress, spelling is not taught effectively.


Overall a friendly and kind learning environment just a lack of support to challenge children academically or help children falling behind.

Posted: January 6, 2022

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Posted: June 8, 2017

Posted: June 8, 2017

Excellent principal,teachers and all staff
My little boy learn a lot he is on kindergarten

Posted: June 8, 2017

Posted: June 8, 2017

I love mrs moore she is a excellent teacher .
Is amazing how much my child learn with her

Posted: June 8, 2017

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Posted: June 8, 2017

Posted: March 28, 2017

The staff at this school focuses on students' needs and all that is done is for the benefit of students. I've worked at the school for 12 years and my own children will attend as well.

Posted: February 19, 2016

Great principal, awesome staff, dedicated teachers, very congenial student and parent environment and hardworking PTA. We couldn't be happier!!!

Posted: August 13, 2015

The way the school has handled kids interacting with each other has been positive.

I love how they are using the bucket filling and bucket dipping with the young kids to teach values.

Posted: March 4, 2015

This school is fantastic! Our daughter is just finishing her 3rd quartered kindergarten and has really excelled. When she started she could barely remember the alphabet. Now she is reading at a 1st grade level. The principal is very friendly and always takes time to speak us. It is obvious he really cares about the school and he kids. The teacher is outstanding and does a great job educating the kids. Mr. Simons and the teachers really work hard to ensure that West Lake Elemtary is one of the best schools in the county!

Posted: February 4, 2015

This school was the absolute worst environment for our kids. We have 2 kids that started the last school year here. The school is so disorganized and overcrowded. The principal tries his hardest I think but is just overwhelmed. He spends most of his day disciplining kids. I think they need to hire someone just to do that all day! The kids get lost and have to scream for help if they need it. The turnover rate is high which doesn't look too good.... Both of our kids had their self confidence taken away from them. We took them out mid year because we just couldn't watch them suffer any longer. It was a miserable experience and although I could walk to the school in 5 minutes, we chose to drive our kids to a different school. Very disappointed to say the least. The kids are happy now and we have never looked back. Best decision we ever made was to get them out of there. Very sad to say that about my neighborhood school since we bought our home based upon the schools being so close!

Posted: October 25, 2014

Although we had been warned about the teacher turn over, we crossed our fingers and enrolled our child in Kindergarten this Fall. The school has faithfully adopted and rigorously implemented all of the common core standards in all grades including Kindergarten. Unfortunately, there is no regard given to where your child actually is developmentally. It is assumed all children entering Kindergarten know their alphabet, know most sounds and should be able to write simple words phonetically. If your child was not enrolled in preschool or if they are delayed in any way, then they will be behind on their very first day of school. The school is over-crowded and does not have the staff to help kids who need remediation. The Kindergarten teacher passed out work sheets daily and graded these assessments with red pen. We un-enrolled our child after the first quarter. I would not recommend this school unless you know the teacher or have friends that can vouch for them. The Principal seemed nice but also looked overwhelmed and tired. He was too busy to speak to us because he was often dealing with discipline issues. My child now puts red x's on his drawings when he is finished with them.

Posted: January 9, 2014

I have a fourth grader and a first grader and the can't say enough about West Lake... Love the teachers..

Posted: November 20, 2013

This is the our third year at West Lake Elementary. I currently have a 5th grader, 3rd grader & Kindergartener attending. I have been very happy with the school thus far. It is a highly populated school, but I think the school has done it's best to accommodate and I love the year-round schedule. There has only been one teacher that I did not care for in our 3 years. The other teachers have been helpful and caring. I also cannot say enough good things about Mr. Simons as Principal. I love that he will go out at recess and play with the kids. He really makes an effort to get to know all the kids. He is very approachable and is doing an amazing job. I also want to give a shout out to Ms. Marshall, the Asst. Principal. She and Mr. Simons have created an amazing community feel at the school. Ms. Marshall always has a smile on her face and greets my kids by name. The only one complaint I have about the school is the silent lunches, which seem extreme in my opinion. Aside from that, I love this school and the parents in my neighborhood are very involved in making the school the best it can be.

Posted: September 25, 2013

This is my daughter's first year, but I am pleasantly surprised at how well the school is run. I was talking with my wife and we wish we did some of the things they do when we were kids. I think social media is helping and the teacher is either very organized or works a lot of hours (it could be both). Also I was worried that my daughter wouldn't be challenged since she scored somewhere in the high 90s percentile of primrose students on the bracken test., but I think that the curriculum she is going through now is appropriate for kindergarten.

Posted: September 18, 2013

Can not say enough about this school since they put Daniel Simons in principal spot. Love the school. Wonderful.

Posted: May 15, 2013

The new principal is awesome. He is always approachable! He will bring the school back to the top in the next 5 years! Teachers are just a few very good:((((

Posted: March 19, 2013

It starts at the top. The new principle is awesome. He is not afraid to run laps with the kids, read to them during story time, institute creative incentive programs, work with the parents, listen.. it trickles down throughout the school to everyone working there and it shows. You can have the most fancy school and if the leadership stinks, the school will stink. I would not hestitate to recommend this school and am happy my kids are here.

Posted: March 19, 2013

West lake is a great school with strong parent/ teacher involvement. Teachers and principal value parent- teacher communications.

Posted: January 24, 2013

2011-12 was a turn around for this school Greater energy and positive vision since the new Principal came to WLE.

Reviews provided by GreatSchools™

# Name Type City State Overall Rating Distance
1 Eagle Ridge Neighborhood/Subdivision Raleigh NC 4.8 mi
2 Winston Pointe Neighborhood/Subdivision Clayton NC 13.8 mi
3 Hedingham Neighborhood/Subdivision Raleigh NC 15.8 mi
4 Forest Oaks Neighborhood/Subdivision Bunnlevel NC 27 mi
5 Anderson Creek Club Neighborhood/Subdivision Spring Lake NC 28.3 mi
6 The Summit Neighborhood/Subdivision Sanford NC 28.6 mi
7 Sunset Ridge Neighborhood/Subdivision Sanford NC 28.9 mi
8 Overhills Creek Neighborhood/Subdivision Spring Lake NC 30.1 mi
9 Ellerslie Subdivision Neighborhood/Subdivision Fayetteville NC 30.6 mi
10 Castlebrooke Neighborhood/Subdivision Linden NC 31 mi
11 Carolina Seasons Neighborhood/Subdivision Cameron NC 31.7 mi
12 Forest Ridge Neighborhood/Subdivision Cameron NC 32.3 mi
13 Deerfield Neighborhood/Subdivision Spring Lake NC 34.2 mi
14 Kings Grant Neighborhood/Subdivision Fayetteville NC 34.3 mi
15 Inverness Neighborhood/Subdivision Fayetteville NC 35.7 mi
16 Patriot Park Village Neighborhood/Subdivision Fayetteville NC 35.8 mi
17 Stonegate Apartments Apartment Complex Spring Lake NC 35.8 mi
18 Kinwood Neighborhood/Subdivision Fayetteville NC 36.6 mi
19 College Lakes Area of Town Fayetteville NC 37.1 mi
20 Woodlake Neighborhood/Subdivision Vass NC 38.2 mi
# Name City State Overall Rating Distance
1 North Ramsey Road Fayetteville NC 32.3 mi
2 Spring Lake Spring Lake NC 35.9 mi
3 Spring Lake by Ft Bragg Base Spring Lake NC 36.3 mi
4 Princeton Princeton NC 36.3 mi
5 Eastwood Ave & Kentberry Ct. Fayetteville NC 39.5 mi
Base Distance
Raleigh National Guard 10.7 mi.
Pope Field 36.5 mi.
Fort Bragg 42.8 mi.
Seymour Johnson AFB 49.5 mi.
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