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)
370472002837	1021	East Garner Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	5545 Jones Sausage Road	Garner	27529	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 773-7411	496	40	12.4	99.4%	42 (8.5%)	265 (53.4%)	165 (33.3%)	13 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (2.2%)	$10,446			$1,410			$9,036	34.3	24.5	1181	160
370357001467	1022	Penderlea Elementary	Public	K-8	11 Garden Road	Willard	28478	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 285-2761	484	35	13.8	99.4%	254 (52.5%)	82 (16.9%)	114 (23.6%)	4 (0.8%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (5.8%)	$9,390			$895			$8,495	34.2	42.4	890	132
370192000761	1023	Bluford Elementary	Public, Magnet	K-5	1901 Tuscaloosa Street	Greensboro	27401	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(336) 370-8120	248	20	12.6	98.8%	14 (5.6%)	183 (73.8%)	38 (15.3%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (4.4%)	$12,451			$1,850			$10,602	34.2	34	1022	1
370345001425	1024	Northwoods Elementary	Public, Magnet	K-5	617 Henderson Dr	Jacksonville	28540	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(910) 347-2808	408	32	12.7	61.8%	141 (34.6%)	110 (27.0%)	83 (20.3%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.0%)	68 (16.7%)	$9,947			$1,028			$8,919	34.1	37.4	963	61
370297003417	1025	Renaissance West STEAM Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	3241 New Renaissance Way	Charlotte	28208	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(980) 343-0049	679	64	10.6	99.6%	9 (1.3%)	464 (68.3%)	159 (23.4%)	24 (3.5%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	21 (3.1%)	$10,213			$1,562			$8,650	34.1	22.2	1224	199
370046503523	1026	Cardinal Charter Academy at Wendell Falls	Public, Charter	K-8	6041 Taylor Rd.	Wendell	27591	Wake County	Cardinal Charter Academy at Wendell Falls	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 752-8870	627	19	33	54.9%	189 (30.1%)	185 (29.5%)	186 (29.7%)	14 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	52 (8.3%)								34	23.9	1194	168
370126003580	1027	Ignite Online Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	5321 Ephesus Church Rd.	Durham	27707	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	No	Yes	No	(919) 972-4400	369	38	9.7	59.3%	65 (17.6%)	183 (49.6%)	72 (19.5%)	5 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	43 (11.7%)								34	27	1138	111
370001100409	1028	J W Coon Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	905 Hope Mills Road	Fayetteville	28304	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 425-6141	207	20	10.3	98.6%	34 (16.4%)	102 (49.3%)	38 (18.4%)	3 (1.4%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (14.0%)	$15,400			$1,813			$13,587	34	18.8	1273	245
370168000718	1029	Buckland Elementary	Public	K-5	448 NC 37 North	Gates	27937	Gates County	Gates County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 357-1611	242	16	15.1	54.1%	145 (59.9%)	63 (26.0%)	8 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (10.3%)	$12,341			$957			$11,384	34	54	695	334
370111000456	1030	Manteo Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	701 N Hwy 64/264	Manteo	27954	Dare County	Dare County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 473-2742	648	55	11.7	54.6%	384 (59.3%)	24 (3.7%)	184 (28.4%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	54 (8.3%)	$11,908			$794			$11,114	34	47.9	800	230

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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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.