Best Elementary Schools in North Carolina

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Find the best North Carolina elementary schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish North Carolina test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the EOG test scores by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction. The most recent update was on Wednesday, September 3, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 1490)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
641	Grays Chapel Elementary School	Public	K-5	5322 NC Hwy 22 N	Franklinville	27248	Randolph County	Randolph County School System	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 824-8620	446	29	15.3	99.3%	353 (79.1%)	8 (1.8%)	55 (12.3%)	3 (0.7%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (5.4%)	$9,144			$1,263			$7,881	55.7	48.3	779	138		370378001522
642	Central Park School For Children	Public, Charter	K-8	724 Foster Street	Durham	27701	Durham County	Central Park School For Children	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 682-1200	585	47	12.4	35.6%	284 (48.5%)	133 (22.7%)	108 (18.5%)	13 (2.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (7.9%)								55.6	63.1	522	120		370013002665
643	Celeste Henkel Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1503 Old Mountain Road	Statesville	28677	Iredell County	Iredell-Statesville Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 873-7333	558	42	13.4	98.9%	342 (61.3%)	69 (12.4%)	93 (16.7%)	10 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (7.9%)	$10,624			$1,544			$9,080	55.5	48.3	776	133		370231000982
644	Brinson Memorial Elementary	Public	K-5	319 Neuse Forest Avenue	New Bern	28560	Craven County	Craven County Board of Education	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 514-6431	446	29	15.4	97.5%	228 (51.1%)	86 (19.3%)	79 (17.7%)	4 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.7%)	45 (10.1%)	$11,008			$1,379			$9,629	55.5	73.3	354	290		370331002171
645	Briarcliff Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1220 Pond St	Cary	27511	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 460-3443	486	32	15	43.0%	275 (56.6%)	39 (8.0%)	117 (24.1%)	40 (8.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (3.1%)	$10,299			$630			$9,670	55.4	68.2	440	205		370472001837
646	Lee Woodard Elementary	Public	K-5	103 Church St	Black Creek	27813	Wilson County	Wilson County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 399-7940	173	10	17.3	97.1%	73 (42.2%)	40 (23.1%)	48 (27.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (6.9%)	$11,686			$1,635			$10,051	55.4	61.6	549	97		370502002001
647	East Bend Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	205 School Street	East Bend	27018	Yadkin County	Yadkin County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 551-1125	246	14	17	98.8%	180 (73.2%)	1 (0.4%)	52 (21.1%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (4.5%)	$10,438			$1,223			$9,214	55.4	62.3	539	108		370504002015
648	Ranger Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	101 Hardy Truett Road	Murphy	28906	Cherokee County	Cherokee County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 644-5111	264	20	13.3	98.9%	241 (91.3%)	2 (0.8%)	13 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.0%)	$11,981			$1,248			$10,733	55.3	64	508	140		370078000325
649	Wake Forest Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	406 S Main Street	Wake Forest	27587	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 554-8655	444	38	11.7	45.9%	214 (48.2%)	110 (24.8%)	65 (14.6%)	19 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (8.1%)	$11,352			$1,126			$10,226	55.3	61.1	564	85		370472001900
650	Rocky River Elementary	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-5	5454 Rocky River Road	Concord	28025	Cabarrus County	Cabarrus County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(704) 260-6290	652	50	13	99.5%	133 (20.4%)	220 (33.7%)	245 (37.6%)	11 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (6.6%)	$9,867			$992			$8,875	55.2	39.4	943	293		370053002076

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for North Carolina

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for NC student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Homeless Students Gifted and Talented Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on EOG Mathematics, EOG Reading, EOG Science test scores released by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.
These rankings were last updated on September 3, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

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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.