Best Public Schools in Wrightsville Beach, NC

Summary:

Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina is home to a single exceptional elementary school, Wrightsville Beach Elementary, which serves grades K-5 and has a total enrollment of 273 students. The school is part of the New Hanover County Schools district, which is ranked 78 out of 242 districts in the state and has a 3-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Wrightsville Beach Elementary is a standout school, consistently ranking in the top 30 elementary schools in North Carolina and significantly outperforming its peers at the district and state level on standardized tests in mathematics, reading, and science. For example, in the 2024-2025 school year, 93.6% of 3rd graders were proficient or better in mathematics, compared to 68.9% for the district and 64.1% for the state. The school also has a relatively low percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch at 12.82% in 2023-2024, suggesting a relatively affluent student population.

Wrightsville Beach Elementary appears to have access to significant resources, with a spending per student of $11,028 for the 2018-2019 school year and a favorable student-teacher ratio of 14.7 to 1 in the 2023-2024 school year. These factors likely contribute to the school's academic success, though maintaining this high performance will be an ongoing challenge as student demographics and funding levels may change over time.

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

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				EOG Mathematics (2025)			EOG Reading (2025)			EOG Science (2025)	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	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	EOG Mathematics 3rd Grade	EOG Mathematics 4th Grade	EOG Mathematics 5th Grade	EOG Reading 3rd Grade	EOG Reading 4th Grade	EOG Reading 5th Grade	EOG Science 5th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Wrightsville Beach Elementary	Public	K-5	220 Coral Drive	Wrightsville Beach	28480	New Hanover County	New Hanover County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 256-3171	280	19	14.4	8.9%	256 (91.4%)	2 (0.7%)	9 (3.2%)	5 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.9%)	97.6	12^th of 1490 public elementary schools	99.2%		96.3	30^th of 1505 public elementary schools	98.0%	18	93.6	95.8	91.1	83.0	89.6	83.9	96.5	$11,028	$419	$10,609

Cities Near Wrightsville Beach

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Wilmington	2.87 mi	45	220^th
Castle Hayne	9.27 mi	5	74^th
Leland	10.79 mi	5	203^rd
Hampstead	13.12 mi	7	42^nd
Carolina Beach	13.55 mi	1	5^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.