Best Public Schools in Hubert, NC

Hubert, North Carolina, is served by a single public school, Sand Ridge Elementary, a K–5 school with 527 students in the Onslow County Schools district, which holds a 2-star rating and ranks 136th out of 246 districts statewide. Because there is only one school in the city, the standout analysis focuses on how Sand Ridge compares to its district and state averages across grades and subjects.

Sand Ridge Elementary is a majority low-income school, with 62% of students qualifying for free/reduced-price lunch, yet it posts a chronic absenteeism rate of 18.8% — noticeably better than the district's 22.7% and the state's 24.2%. The school's student-teacher ratio of 13.1 is relatively favorable. In the most recent 2025-2026 school year, Sand Ridge beat the district in 5 of 7 tested measures and beat the state in 4 of 7. Its strongest area is third-grade math, where 82.7% of students scored proficient — more than 20 points above the district and 16 points above the state. Reading is consistently strong too, with Sand Ridge exceeding both district and state averages in every tested reading grade. However, math proficiency falls sharply by grade: from 82.7% in third grade to 60.8% in fourth and 56.7% in fifth, where it drops below state averages. Science is a newer concern, as fifth-grade science proficiency fell to 64.4%, trailing the district (67.0%) and state (67.7%) despite being a strength the previous year.

The school's state ranking has been volatile: it reached the 75th percentile (4 stars, 379th of 1,490 schools) in 2024-2025, then slipped to the 60th percentile (3 stars, 604th of 1,492) in 2025-2026. Cohort-level declines in math between third and fifth grade suggest that early gains may not be sustained through upper elementary. Still, given its high-poverty population and mid-tier district, Sand Ridge holds its own in most subjects and consistently outperforms its district in reading and early math. The key watch item is whether the drop in upper-grade math and the latest ranking dip represent a temporary cohort effect or a longer-term trend.