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Best Public Schools in Pender County, NC

New rankings! SchoolDigger recently updated its North Carolina rankings with newly released test scores for the 2025-26 school year.

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At a glance

Schools

10,216

Students

5-star schools

Top rankedPender Early College High18^th of 662 North Carolina high schools

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Biggest riser

Penderlea Elementary up 144 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Burgaw Middle 10.2 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

5★

4★

2★

1★

0★

1 school without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)

See the top-ranked North Carolina 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)				EOC Biology (2026)	EOC English II (2026)	EOC Math I (2026)	EOC Math III (2026)	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	EOC Biology End of Course	EOC English II End of Course	EOC Math I End of Course	EOC Math III End of Course	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
Malpass Corner Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	4992 Malpass Corner Road	Burgaw	28425	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 283-5889	513	29	17.5	98.1%	188 (36.6%)	135 (26.3%)	159 (31.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (5.5%)	10.2	1419^th of 1492 public elementary schools	4.9%		18.7	1302^nd of 1490 public elementary schools	12.6%	117					55.7	35.9	27.5				32.9	39.7	21.7				27.5		$11,511	$1,863	$9,647
C.F. Pope Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	400 North Wright Street	Burgaw	28425	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 259-0145	530	33	16.1	97.7%	189 (35.7%)	181 (34.2%)	103 (19.4%)	5 (0.9%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	48 (9.1%)	17.9	1317^th of 1492 public elementary schools	11.7%		13.9	1365^th of 1490 public elementary schools	8.4%	48					48.7	33.3	36.8				41.0	33.3	42.6				60.3		$9,705	$1,200	$8,505
Burgaw Middle	Public	6-8	500 South Wright Street	Burgaw	28425	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 259-0149	236	23	10.2	97.9%	99 (41.9%)	76 (32.2%)	50 (21.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (4.2%)	17.6	667^th of 778 public middle schools	14.3%		20.4	633^rd of 773 public middle schools	18.1%	34								38.8	46.1	33.8				32.5	38.2	30.8		50.8	$12,822	$1,614	$11,208
Pender High	Public	9-12	5380 NC Hwy 53 W	Burgaw	28425	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 259-0162	648	29	22.1	98.5%	265 (40.9%)	201 (31.0%)	151 (23.3%)	2 (0.3%)	5 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (3.7%)	11.6	597^th of 662 public high schools	9.8%		13.9	576^th of 641 public high schools	10.1%	21	19.8	43.7	25.5	33.8															$10,022	$530	$9,492
Penderlea Elementary	Public	PK, KG-8	11 Garden Road	Willard	28478	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 285-2761	468	33	14.1	99.4%	235 (50.2%)	83 (17.7%)	108 (23.1%)	4 (0.9%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	34 (7.3%)	44.9	827^th of 1492 public elementary schools	44.6%		36.6	971^st of 1490 public elementary schools	34.8%	144					56.3	63.5	75.6	58.2	49.2	60.3	35.4	52.8	48.9	42.6	50.8	47.1	73.3	70.6	$9,390	$895	$8,495
Rocky Point Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	255 Elementary School Road	Rocky Point	28457	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 675-2309	403	29	13.7	99.3%	145 (36.0%)	55 (13.6%)	189 (46.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (3.5%)	46.6	793^rd of 1492 public elementary schools	46.8%		62.5	522^nd of 1490 public elementary schools	65.0%	271					52.8	58.1	72.6				41.5	51.6	58.1				66.1		$11,562	$1,485	$10,077
Topsail High	Public	9-12	245 St. Johns Church Road	Hampstead	28443	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 270-2755	1,945	67	29.0	23.5%	1,603 (82.4%)	60 (3.1%)	148 (7.6%)	15 (0.8%)	6 (0.3%)	3 (0.2%)	110 (5.7%)	73.5	168^th of 662 public high schools	74.6%		79.4	136^th of 641 public high schools	78.8%	32	78.3	75.6	57.5	86.0															$8,065	$589	$7,476
Topsail Middle	Public	5-8	17445 US Hwy 17	Hampstead	28443	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 270-2612	837	45	18.6	20.1%	699 (83.5%)	21 (2.5%)	67 (8.0%)	8 (1.0%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	38 (4.5%)	78.4	143^rd of 778 public middle schools	81.6%		82.5	113^th of 773 public middle schools	85.4%	30							79.3	73.8	69.9	61.4			68.9	65.5	71.5	67.7	88.9	80.9	$8,344	$489	$7,855
West Pender Middle	Public	6-8	10750 NC Hwy 53 West	Burgaw	28425	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 283-5626	209	17	12.2	97.6%	72 (34.4%)	67 (32.1%)	62 (29.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.8%)	24.1	613^th of 778 public middle schools	21.2%		17.4	669^th of 773 public middle schools	13.5%	56								47.9	40.9	49.2				30.1	30.3	36.1		62.3	$11,639	$998	$10,642
South Topsail Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	997 Hoover Road	Hampstead	28443	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 270-2756	618	38	16.1	99.5%	475 (76.9%)	19 (3.1%)	67 (10.8%)	8 (1.3%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	45 (7.3%)	82.1	214^th of 1492 public elementary schools	85.7%		77	297^th of 1490 public elementary schools	80.1%	83					80.4	74.2	85.1				66.7	64.5	73.4				85.1		$10,357	$486	$9,871
North Topsail Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1310 Sloop Point Loop Road	Hampstead	28443	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 270-0694	529	33	15.9	99.1%	450 (85.1%)	12 (2.3%)	36 (6.8%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (5.3%)	89.2	129^th of 1492 public elementary schools	91.4%		85.5	165^th of 1490 public elementary schools	88.9%	36					90.4	86.4	78.4				71.1	75.4	72.1				87.4		$9,936	$444	$9,492
Cape Fear Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1882 NC Hwy 133	Rocky Point	28457	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 602-3767	533	37	14.4	99.4%	287 (53.8%)	46 (8.6%)	164 (30.8%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (6.2%)	35.5	991^st of 1492 public elementary schools	33.6%		30.2	1088^th of 1490 public elementary schools	27.0%	97					50.6	53.8	59.0				37.0	46.2	40.2				73.5		$10,210	$1,054	$9,156
Cape Fear Middle	Public	6-8	1886 NC Hwy 133	Rocky Point	28457	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 602-3334	430	32	13.4	99.1%	199 (46.3%)	36 (8.4%)	163 (37.9%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (7.0%)	39.5	482^nd of 778 public middle schools	38.0%		48.5	397^th of 773 public middle schools	48.6%	85								57.6	55.0	61.3				35.4	46.6	46.7		56.2	$8,993	$959	$8,034
Heide Trask High	Public	9-12	14328 NC Hwy 210	Rocky Point	28457	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 602-6810	732	33	21.8	99.6%	300 (41.0%)	111 (15.2%)	281 (38.4%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (4.9%)	21.7	541^st of 662 public high schools	18.3%		18.8	530^th of 641 public high schools	17.3%	11	39.1	49.2	26.8	52.4															$10,484	$771	$9,712
Pender Early College High	Public	9-12	100 East Industrial Drive	Burgaw	28425	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 362-7925	215	4	50.8	98.6%	140 (65.1%)	10 (4.7%)	50 (23.3%)	3 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (5.6%)	93.8	18^th of 662 public high schools	97.3%		94.3	30^th of 641 public high schools	95.3%	12	97.5	98.3	94.7	100.0															$7,865	$425	$7,440
Topsail Annandale Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-4	17385 US Hwy 17	Hampstead	28443	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 270-1977	580	34	17.0	19.8%	502 (86.6%)	13 (2.2%)	42 (7.2%)	3 (0.5%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	17 (2.9%)	89.8	116^th of 1492 public elementary schools	92.2%		90.3	106^th of 1490 public elementary schools	92.9%	10					87.9	80.8					77.8	74.6							$8,786	$660	$8,125
Surf City Middle	Public	6-8	12345-B Literacy Lane	Hampstead	28443	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 928-0087	752	41	18.4	21.3%	621 (82.6%)	11 (1.5%)	61 (8.1%)	3 (0.4%)	4 (0.5%)	2 (0.3%)	50 (6.6%)	78.3	145^th of 778 public middle schools	81.4%		78.5	146^th of 773 public middle schools	81.1%	1								75.6	72.5	67.6				65.4	63.2	66.2		82.9	$6,848	$445	$6,403
Pender Innovative Learning Academy	Public, Alternative	K-12	1892 NC Hwy 133	Rocky Point	28457	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 789-6073	38	8	4.9	86.8%	25 (65.8%)	8 (21.1%)	2 (5.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (7.9%)								(n/a)	45.5			26.7

SchoolDigger rankings lists for North Carolina:

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts 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.