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Best Public Schools in Mill Spring, NC

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At a glance

Schools

953

Students

Top rankedSunny View Elementary School492^nd of 1,492 North Carolina elementary schools

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Biggest riser

Sunny View Elementary School up 70 spots statewide this year

Compare North Carolina cities →See the top-ranked North Carolina schools →

Summary:

Mill Spring, North Carolina is served by three public schools in Polk County Schools — Polk County Middle School (grades 6–8), Polk Central Elementary School (PK–5), and Sunny View Elementary School (PK–5) — with no high school within the city limits. All three schools serve very high-poverty populations, with free/reduced-price lunch eligibility ranging from 97.5% to 99.3%, yet they show notably different academic results.

Sunny View Elementary School is the strongest elementary school in Mill Spring. Despite being the smallest school with just 120 students, it ranks in the 67th percentile statewide and leads the city's elementary schools in average math and reading proficiency. Its 4th-grade math proficiency is 90%, nearly 29 points above the state average, and it has the lowest chronic absenteeism rate in the city at 18.5%. However, its 5th-grade reading and science scores lag the state. Polk County Middle School shows real strengths in 8th-grade reading (72%) and science (76.7%), both above state averages, but its overall state ranking has slipped three straight years, from the 77th to the 61st percentile, and nearly one in three students is chronically absent. Polk Central Elementary School is the school most in need of attention: its ranking fell from the 65th to the 45th percentile over two years, its star rating dropped to 2, and 3rd-grade reading sits at just 48.4%, well below the state average of 55.6%.

Attendance appears to be a key differentiator, as the highest-performing elementary school has the lowest chronic absenteeism, while the two lower-performing schools have rates near 30%. Elementary science is a citywide weak spot — neither Polk Central nor Sunny View reaches the state average in 5th-grade science — though science scores jump well above average by 8th grade at Polk County Middle. Sunny View also spends the most per student ($15,864) and has a lower student-teacher ratio (11.8) than Polk Central ($12,367 and 15.9). For a complete picture of high school outcomes, families would need to look beyond Mill Spring to other schools in Polk County Schools.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				EOG Mathematics (2026)						EOG Reading (2026)						EOG Science (2026)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients (2025)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	EOG Mathematics 3rd Grade	EOG Mathematics 4th Grade	EOG Mathematics 5th Grade	EOG Mathematics 6th Grade	EOG Mathematics 7th Grade	EOG Mathematics 8th Grade	EOG Reading 3rd Grade	EOG Reading 4th Grade	EOG Reading 5th Grade	EOG Reading 6th Grade	EOG Reading 7th Grade	EOG Reading 8th Grade	EOG Science 5th Grade	EOG Science 8th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Polk Central Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	2141 South NC9 Hwy	Mill Spring	28756	Polk County	Polk County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 894-8233	379	24	15.9	99.2%	299 (78.9%)	20 (5.3%)	39 (10.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (5.3%)	45.5	815^th of 1492 public elementary schools	45.4%		59.6	570^th of 1490 public elementary schools	61.7%	245	56.5	56.4	69.4				48.4	60.0	53.1				59.2		$12,367	$1,550	$10,818
Sunny View Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	86 Sunny View School Road	Mill Spring	28756	Polk County	Polk County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 894-1050	120	10	11.8	97.5%	115 (95.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.7%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.7%)	65.8	492^nd of 1492 public elementary schools	67.0%		60.3	562^nd of 1490 public elementary schools	62.3%	70	73.3	90.0	76.5				60.0	80.0	47.1				47.1		$15,864	$1,636	$14,228
Polk County Middle School	Public	6-8	321 Wolverine Trail	Mill Spring	28756	Polk County	Polk County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 894-2215	454	41	11.1	99.3%	339 (74.7%)	19 (4.2%)	64 (14.1%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	29 (6.4%)	59.4	307^th of 778 public middle schools	60.5%		67	230^th of 773 public middle schools	70.2%	77				54.9	56.0	51.3				52.9	60.4	72.0		76.7	$11,233	$636	$10,597

Cities Near Mill Spring

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Lake Lure	4.87 mi	1
Columbus	5.2 mi	2	95^th
Tryon	9.63 mi	1	109^th
Rutherfordton	11.1 mi	4	179^th
Hendersonville	11.5 mi	15	174^th

See the top NC North Carolina cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.