Summary:
Cooleemee, North Carolina is served by a single public school, Cooleemee Elementary, a PK–5 elementary school in Davie County Schools that enrolls 462 students, 83% of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Because no middle or high schools are listed within the city limits, Cooleemee families have one local elementary option, and students typically transition to schools outside the city after 5th grade.
Cooleemee Elementary’s clearest academic strength is 5th grade science: in 2025–26, 72.9% of 5th graders scored proficient, matching the district and beating the state rate of 67.7% by 5.2 points; the school also exceeded the state science average in 2024–25. Math and reading results are more mixed. The school’s 3rd grade scores improved dramatically year over year, with reading jumping from 26.8% to 47.6% and math from 46.3% to 65.1%. However, 4th grade is the most concerning level: reading proficiency fell from 47.9% to 36.7% in 2025–26, leaving the school 21 points behind the state, and 4th grade math proficiency (50.6%) trails the district by nearly 17 points. In most subjects, the school performs below its district, which itself ranks in the 65th percentile of North Carolina districts.
The school’s overall state ranking placed it at the 40th percentile (897th of 1,492 schools) in 2025–26, a slight recovery from the 35th percentile the prior year but still below its 42nd percentile in 2023–24. Chronic absenteeism is a relative bright spot: at 19.1%, it is below the state rate of 24.2% and only slightly above the district’s 18.5%. Despite high poverty, the consistent science performance and improving 3rd grade outcomes suggest pockets of instructional strength, while the 4th grade slide points to a critical area for targeted support before students reach 5th grade.
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