Best Elementary Schools in North Carolina

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Find the best North Carolina elementary schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish North Carolina test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the EOG test scores by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction. The most recent update was on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 1505)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
370483001940	271	Parkway Elementary	Public	PK, KG-8	160 Parkway School Dr	Boone	28607	Watauga County	Watauga County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 264-3032	647	47	13.9	35.5%	450 (69.6%)	2 (0.3%)	70 (10.8%)	8 (1.2%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	114 (17.6%)	$9,618			$414			$9,204	78.6	84.4	175	96
370048000187	272	Mull Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1140 Old NC 18 South	Morganton	28655	Burke County	Burke County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 437-5785	258	19	13.2	69.4%	206 (79.8%)	8 (3.1%)	27 (10.5%)	5 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (4.7%)	$11,063			$1,857			$9,205	78.5	70.1	408	136
370472001891	273	Root Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	3202 Northampton Street	Raleigh	27609	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 881-4940	472	37	12.7	34.1%	306 (64.8%)	80 (16.9%)	75 (15.9%)	7 (1.5%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	$10,203			$586			$9,617	78.4	81.2	213	60
370357003478	274	Surf City Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	12345-A Literacy Lane	Hampstead	28445	Onslow County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 928-0067	808	44	18.3	30.8%	652 (80.7%)	25 (3.1%)	75 (9.3%)	5 (0.6%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (6.1%)	$7,721			$547			$7,175	78.4	80.7	224	50
370030000084	275	Crossnore Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1000 Walt Clark Road	Crossnore	28616	Avery County	Avery County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 737-7204	199	16	12.2	55.8%	167 (83.9%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (14.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.5%)	$12,666			$1,132			$11,534	78.2	79.6	246	29
370035303291	276	Pinnacle Classical Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2401 Joes Lake Rd	Shelby	28152	Cleveland County	Pinnacle Classical Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 740-4040	1,132	38	29.6		837 (73.9%)	115 (10.2%)	81 (7.2%)	20 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	79 (7.0%)								78.1	76.1	299	23
370150003196	277	Frank Morgan Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	3210 Village Point Drive	Clemmons	27012	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 703-4148	704	46	15.4	51.4%	326 (46.3%)	111 (15.8%)	180 (25.6%)	35 (5.0%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (7.0%)	$9,402			$636			$8,766	78	72.1	374	97
370408001639	278	Forest City-Dunbar Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	286 Learning Parkway	Forest City	28043	Rutherford County	Rutherford County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 245-4978	479	37	13	99.4%	172 (35.9%)	143 (29.9%)	107 (22.3%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	52 (10.9%)	$12,235			$3,287			$8,948	78	77.6	280	2
370005002366	279	River Mill Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	235 Cheeks Lane	Graham	27253	Alamance County	River Mill Academy	Yes	No	No	No	(336) 229-0909	771	48	16.1		524 (68.0%)	102 (13.2%)	100 (13.0%)	11 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (4.4%)								77.9	73.7	346	67
370210002094	280	Atkinson Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2510 Old Kanuga Road	Hendersonville	28739	Henderson County	Henderson County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 697-4755	317	22	14.7	47.3%	262 (82.6%)	3 (0.9%)	35 (11.0%)	6 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (3.5%)	$9,752			$871			$8,881	77.9	82	206	74

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for North Carolina

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for NC student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Homeless Students Gifted and Talented Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on EOG Mathematics, EOG Reading, EOG Science test scores released by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.
These rankings were last updated on September 4, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.