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)
370069000279	571	Charles H Tuttle Elementary	Public	K-6	2872 Water Plant Road	Maiden	28650	Catawba County	Catawba County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 428-3080	384	27	13.9	59.1%	278 (72.4%)	5 (1.3%)	54 (14.1%)	24 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (6.0%)	$9,003			$737			$8,265	60.7	53.7	703	132
370192000769	572	Erwin Montessori	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-5	3600 Williams Dairy Road	Greensboro	27406	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(336) 370-8151	196	14	13.5	98.5%	21 (10.7%)	148 (75.5%)	19 (9.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (3.1%)	$17,956			$1,537			$16,419	60.7	58.4	611	39
370297000889	573	Smithfield Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	3200 Smithfield Church Rd	Charlotte	28210	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 343-6550	642	40	15.9	46.4%	279 (43.5%)	125 (19.5%)	193 (30.1%)	18 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (4.2%)	$9,214			$516			$8,698	60.6	60.1	580	7
370150000642	574	Speas Elementary	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-5	2000 W Polo Road	Winston Salem	27106	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(336) 703-4135	770	50	15.5	99.6%	209 (27.1%)	259 (33.6%)	242 (31.4%)	5 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	54 (7.0%)	$9,845			$1,244			$8,601	60.6	52.4	727	153
370003000015	575	South Mebane Elementary	Public	K-5	600 S 3rd Street	Mebane	27302	Alamance County	Alamance-Burlington Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 563-6905	547	33	16.4	52.5%	185 (33.8%)	186 (34.0%)	87 (15.9%)	24 (4.4%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	63 (11.5%)	$8,634			$587			$8,048	60.5	60.8	561	14
370038403355	576	Excelsior Classical Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4100 N Roxboro Street	Durham	27704	Durham County	Excelsior Classical Academy	Yes	No	No	No	(919) 213-8585	1,029	42	24.4		445 (43.2%)	207 (20.1%)	261 (25.4%)	16 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	99 (9.6%)								60.3	55.6	659	83
370162002156	577	W A Bess Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	4340 Beaty Road	Gastonia	28056	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 866-6075	641	40	15.8	47.7%	365 (56.9%)	97 (15.1%)	108 (16.8%)	35 (5.5%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	31 (4.8%)	$8,590			$655			$7,934	60.3	73	359	218
370297001190	578	Allenbrook Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1430 Allenbrook Dr	Charlotte	28208	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(980) 343-6004	276	17	16.2	98.9%	10 (3.6%)	151 (54.7%)	70 (25.4%)	28 (10.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	16 (5.8%)	$12,622			$1,851			$10,771	60.2	68.2	438	140
370414001671	579	Hargrove Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	7725 Faison Hwy	Faison	28341	Duplin County	Sampson County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 533-3444	375	24	15.8	99.2%	99 (26.4%)	47 (12.5%)	206 (54.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.3%)	20 (5.3%)	$11,435			$2,015			$9,421	60.2	56.1	652	73
370126000308	580	Burton Elementary	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-5	1500 Mathison Avenue	Durham	27701	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(919) 560-3908	294	32	9.3	99.0%	24 (8.2%)	134 (45.6%)	120 (40.8%)	2 (0.7%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (4.4%)	$14,102			$1,610			$12,492	60.2	61.4	556	24

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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:

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

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

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.