Best Elementary Schools in North Carolina

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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)
370372000780	521	Polk Central Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	2141 South NC9 Hwy	Mill Spring	28756	Polk County	Polk County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 894-8233	341	30	11.3	99.1%	249 (73.0%)	18 (5.3%)	45 (13.2%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	26 (7.6%)	$12,367			$1,550			$10,818	63.3	85.9	151	370
370013002665	522	Central Park School For Children	Public, Charter	K-8	724 Foster Street	Durham	27701	Durham County	Central Park School For Children	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 682-1200	594	43	13.8	35.9%	268 (45.1%)	169 (28.5%)	99 (16.7%)	12 (2.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (7.6%)								63.1	59.3	592	70
370048000184	523	Icard Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	3087 Icard School Road	Connellys Springs	28612	Burke County	Burke County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 397-3491	260	18	14.7	74.6%	186 (71.5%)	2 (0.8%)	30 (11.5%)	38 (14.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.5%)	$9,629			$1,361			$8,268	63.1	65.6	493	30
370462002862	524	Rock Rest Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	814 Old Pageland-Monroe Rd	Monroe	28112	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 290-1513	441	41	10.7	91.8%	34 (7.7%)	82 (18.6%)	306 (69.4%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (3.9%)	$13,512			$2,722			$10,790	63.1	56	654	130
370045002259	525	North Buncombe Elementary	Public	PK, KG-4	251 Flat Creek Church Rd	Weaverville	28787	Buncombe County	Buncombe County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 645-6054	569	40	14	52.5%	435 (76.4%)	5 (0.9%)	102 (17.9%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (4.6%)	$12,071			$1,473			$10,597	63	71	390	135
370237002907	526	West View Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	11755 Cleveland Road	Garner	27529	Wake County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 661-6184	949	59	16.1	48.1%	455 (47.9%)	210 (22.1%)	187 (19.7%)	21 (2.2%)	6 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	70 (7.4%)	$8,744			$427			$8,317	62.9	56.9	639	113
370001103160	527	New Century International Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	7465 Century Circle	Fayetteville	28306	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 487-2340	686	52	13.2	99.6%	172 (25.1%)	285 (41.5%)	113 (16.5%)	31 (4.5%)	7 (1.0%)	1 (0.1%)	77 (11.2%)	$9,286			$1,041			$8,245	62.8	59.2	594	67
370114000463	528	Davis-Townsend Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	975 Heath Church Road	Lexington	27292	Davidson County	Davidson County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 249-9880	420	29	14.6	54.0%	347 (82.6%)	9 (2.1%)	50 (11.9%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (2.6%)	$10,132			$1,065			$9,067	62.8	75.3	321	207
370462001805	529	Union Elementary	Public	K-5	5320 White Store Rd	Wingate	28174	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 296-6348	274	21	13.3	72.3%	159 (58.0%)	24 (8.8%)	73 (26.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (6.6%)	$13,139			$2,477			$10,662	62.7	53	717	188
370488002320	530	Northwest Elementary	Public	K-5	1769 Pikeville/Princeton Hwy	Pikeville	27863	Wayne County	Wayne County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 242-3419	709	46	15.2	99.6%	404 (57.0%)	151 (21.3%)	97 (13.7%)	14 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (6.1%)	$9,417			$983			$8,433	62.7	57.2	635	105

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for North Carolina

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

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

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.