Elementary Schools in Cary CCSD 26

Elementary schools in Cary CCSD 26 include four schools: three with reported results for grades 3–5 and Oak Knoll Early Childhood Center, which serves PK–K and has no comparable tested-grade results. In 2025–2026, all three schools with results were above the state average in all-grades ELA and mathematics. Their average was 64% in ELA, 8 percentage points above the state’s 56%, and 53% in mathematics, 14 points above the state’s 40%. The clearest area-wide strength is mathematics, where the group’s advantage over the state was largest.

Three Oaks School stands out in ELA and fifth-grade science, while Deer Path Elementary School leads in mathematics. Three Oaks had the highest all-grades ELA result at 66%, 2 points above Deer Path and 5 above Briargate Elementary School; its fifth-grade science result was 59%, compared with 56% at Deer Path and 55% at Briargate. Deer Path led all-grades mathematics at 56%, 6 points above Three Oaks and 3 above Briargate. Briargate’s profile varies by grade: its fifth-grade ELA result was 67%, but its grade 3 ELA result was 48%, near the state’s 48%. The widest grade-level gap was in grade 4 mathematics: Three Oaks scored 38%, 4 points below the state, while Deer Path led at 63%.

ELA improved from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026 at all three schools, rising 3 points at Briargate, 3 at Deer Path, and 4 at Three Oaks. Mathematics increased by 7 points at Deer Path and 3 at Three Oaks, but fell by 4 at Briargate; fifth-grade science also moved in different directions, rising 16 points at Deer Path and 6 at Three Oaks while falling 10 at Briargate. SchoolDigger’s statewide rankings from 2023–2024 to 2025–2026 moved from the 69th to the 67th percentile for Deer Path, 63rd to 64th for Three Oaks, and 57th to 61st for Briargate. Context differs too: 2024–2025 student–teacher ratios were 10.7 at Three Oaks, 14.2 at Deer Path, and 15.8 at Briargate; free/reduced lunch eligible shares that year were 33% at Three Oaks, 26% at Deer Path, and 23% at Briargate. These figures describe differences, not explanations for scores.