Best Public Schools in Hampstead, NC

Hampstead, North Carolina, is home to seven public schools — four elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school — that together serve 6,118 students within Pender County Schools, a district ranked 120th of 246 in the state with an overall 3-star rating. Despite that average district-level standing, every Hampstead school ranks in the top quartile of its school type for the 2025-2026 school year, with two schools earning 5 stars and five earning 4 stars while beating district and state averages in nearly every reported grade and subject.

At the elementary level, Topsail Annandale Elementary School is the area's top-rated school, ranking 116th of 1,492 elementary schools statewide (92nd percentile) with standout 3rd and 4th grade math and reading scores. North Topsail Elementary is especially striking: 99% of its students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, yet the school ranks in the 91st percentile and posts the dataset's highest 3rd grade math proficiency at 90.4%. Among secondary schools, Topsail High ranks 168th of 662 high schools (75th percentile) with End-of-Course results far above state averages in Math III, Biology, and English II, while Topsail Middle is the top middle school in the group, ranking in the 82nd percentile with 5th grade science proficiency of 88.9%.

Elementary math proficiency consistently exceeds reading proficiency, making early-grade reading the clearest area for improvement across the four elementary schools. Chronic absenteeism tracks with school ratings: the most-affected schools — Surf City Middle at 30.8% and Topsail High at 29.5% — are the lowest-rated in the group, while the top-rated elementary schools post the lowest rates at roughly 14.5%. Notably, per-pupil spending is highest at high-poverty elementary schools — $10,357 at South Topsail Elementary and $9,936 at North Topsail Elementary — and those schools deliver some of the strongest academic results. Large one-year gains in 3rd grade reading (including a 20.4-point jump at Surf City Elementary and a 19.3-point gain at North Topsail Elementary) and 5th grade science (including a 20.1-point gain at South Topsail Elementary) also suggest recent momentum worth watching.