Best Public Schools in Gates, NC

Gates, North Carolina, is served by a single public elementary school, Buckland Elementary, which enrolls about 220 students in kindergarten through 5th grade as part of Gates County Schools, a district ranked in the middle tier of North Carolina districts. Because there are no middle or high schools within the city limits, Buckland Elementary represents the entire local school landscape, offering a small, rural setting where roughly half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Buckland Elementary has shown steady upward movement in statewide rankings, climbing from the 32nd percentile in 2023-24 to the 46th percentile in 2025-26, yet it has remained at a 2-star rating. Academically, math stands out as a relative strength: the school's average math proficiency across grades 3-5 is about 66.6%, slightly above the state average, with 4th grade math improving dramatically by 23.5 percentage points in one year. Reading remains the main challenge, averaging about 48.2% proficient — roughly 8 points below the state — with 4th grade reading especially weak at 44.4% compared to 57.7% statewide. Performance swings between years can be large, reflecting small cohort sizes, as seen in 3rd grade reading jumping from 36.1% to 54.5% while 4th grade reading dropped from 54.1% to 44.4%.

Chronic absenteeism is a notable concern, with 27.9% of students chronically absent versus 24.2% statewide, and the school also trails its own district average in most tested subjects and grade levels. However, Buckland has posted strong gains in several areas, particularly mathematics, and its 5th grade science proficiency improved to 60%, though still below the state's 67.7%. For parents, the picture is one of a small elementary school making real progress in ranking and math achievement, but facing persistent literacy gaps and attendance issues that keep it from reaching higher star ratings. The variability between grades suggests that individual classroom dynamics matter greatly here, so it is worth looking beyond any single year's results.