Summary:
Chinquapin, North Carolina, is home to just one public school, Chinquapin Elementary, a PK–8 school serving 537 students within the Duplin County Schools district, a district ranked 201 out of 246 in North Carolina (18th percentile, one star). Chinquapin Elementary serves an almost universally low-income student body, with 99.44% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, yet its chronic absenteeism rate of 15.4% is well below both the district rate of 18.9% and the state rate of 24.2%. Spending per pupil is $14,420, and the student/teacher ratio is a favorable 15.3:1.
While Chinquapin Elementary's overall state ranking has fallen from the 45th percentile in 2024–2025 to the 25th percentile in 2025–2026, the school outperforms its district in 12 of 14 tested grade/subject combinations. Its middle grades are the standout strength: 6th grade math (67.9% proficient) exceeds the state by 8.7 points, 6th grade reading (60.4%) exceeds the state by 5.6 points, 8th grade math (57.4%) exceeds the state by 4.4 points, and 8th grade science (75.4%) beats the state by 6.8 points and the district by more than 20 points.
The most urgent concern is the current 5th grade cohort, which scores far below state averages in math (35.9% vs. 62.9%), reading (35.9% vs. 55.3%), and science (45.3% vs. 67.7%). Notably, the prior year's 5th graders scored very well (70.6% in math), and that same cohort continued to perform strongly as 6th graders in 2025–2026, suggesting the issue is cohort-specific rather than a program-wide problem. The school also saw dramatic year-over-year improvements in 8th grade science (+26.2 points) and 8th grade math (+22.5 points), alongside steep declines in 5th grade and 7th grade math. For parents considering this school, the picture is mixed: Chinquapin Elementary is one of the stronger schools in Duplin County with genuine bright spots in the middle grades, but the sharp drop in 5th-grade proficiency and the overall rank decline are worth watching closely.
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