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
491	Southwest Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2320 Cook Road	Durham	27713	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 560-3972	639	45	14.2	99.5%	203 (31.8%)	204 (31.9%)	166 (26.0%)	12 (1.9%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (8.3%)	$11,711			$1,168			$10,542	64.4	62	544	53		370126002218
492	Bonnie Cone Leadership Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	16115 Poplar Tent Road	Huntersville	28078	Mecklenburg County	Bonnie Cone Leadership Academy	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(704) 755-6800	1,269	77	16.4	41.6%	306 (24.1%)	481 (37.9%)	200 (15.8%)	158 (12.5%)	18 (1.4%)	1 (0.1%)	105 (8.3%)								64.4			(n/a)		370047903617
493	River Gate Elementary	Public	K-5	15340 Smith Rd	Charlotte	28273	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 344-1000	693	46	15.1	99.6%	105 (15.2%)	274 (39.5%)	198 (28.6%)	66 (9.5%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	46 (6.6%)	$8,319			$509			$7,811	64.2	54.2	682	189		370297003123
494	Shadybrook Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	503 Shadybrook Rd	High Point	27265	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 819-2950	319	24	13.2	99.1%	76 (23.8%)	105 (32.9%)	66 (20.7%)	42 (13.2%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (8.8%)	$10,248			$796			$9,452	64.2	71.5	377	117		370192000966
495	Hayesville Elementary	Public	3-5	72 Elementary School Drive	Hayesville	28904	Clay County	Clay County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 389-8586	280	19	14.7	98.9%	242 (86.4%)	1 (0.4%)	24 (8.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (4.6%)	$10,584			$1,072			$9,511	64.2	75.7	318	177		370087000332
496	American Leadership Academy-Coastal	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-11	1135 Pandion Dr	Wilmington	28411	New Hanover County	American Leadership Academy-Coastal	Yes	No	No	Yes	(910) 839-0012	1,002	57	17.4	35.4%	793 (79.1%)	50 (5.0%)	87 (8.7%)	8 (0.8%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	61 (6.1%)								64.1	48	782	286		370041203415
497	The Arts Based School	Public, Charter	K-8	1380 Martin Luther King Jr Dr	Winston Salem	27101	Forsyth County	Arts Based School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(336) 748-4116	663	49	13.5		408 (61.5%)	135 (20.4%)	58 (8.7%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	59 (8.9%)								64.1	68.3	438	59		370012602611
498	Silk Hope School	Public	PK, KG-8	7945 Silk Hope Gum Springs Rd	Siler City	27344	Chatham County	Chatham County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 742-3911	281	21	13.1	98.9%	178 (63.3%)	19 (6.8%)	60 (21.4%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (8.2%)	$12,214			$733			$11,481	64	66.8	459	39		370075000316
499	Mull Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1140 Old NC 18 South	Morganton	28655	Burke County	Burke County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 437-5785	291	20	14.2	98.6%	203 (69.8%)	8 (2.7%)	48 (16.5%)	13 (4.5%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (5.8%)	$11,063			$1,857			$9,205	64	78.5	272	227		370048000187
500	Freedom Trail Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	6110 North US Hwy 19E	Elk Park	28622	Avery County	Avery County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 733-2932	202	15	13	94.1%	178 (88.1%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (8.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (3.0%)	$12,077			$1,306			$10,771	64	77.5	287	213		370030001760

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for North Carolina

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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.

Educational resources:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.