Summary:
The city of Bostic, North Carolina is home to 3 schools serving students from elementary through high school: East Rutherford High School, East Rutherford Middle School, and Sunshine Elementary School. While the high school and middle school appear to be average performers, Sunshine Elementary stands out as a top-performing school in the Rutherford County Schools district, consistently ranking among the best elementary schools in North Carolina.
Sunshine Elementary boasts exceptional test scores, particularly in mathematics, with 90.5% of 5th graders proficient or better compared to just 68.2% for the district and 58.1% statewide. This high-performing school also benefits from the highest per-student spending ($12,481) and the lowest student-teacher ratio (11.2) of the three Bostic schools. In contrast, East Rutherford High and East Rutherford Middle have test scores closer to or slightly below the district and state averages.
The data also reveals stark racial and socioeconomic disparities between the schools, with Sunshine Elementary serving a predominantly white (97.89%) and affluent student population, while the other two schools have much more diverse and economically disadvantaged student bodies. This segregation, combined with the broader underperformance of the Rutherford County Schools district, suggests significant challenges that policymakers and educators will need to address to ensure equitable access to high-quality education for all students in the Bostic area.
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