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
371	Down East Middle and Smyrna Elementary	Public	PK, KG-8	174 Marshallberg Rd	Smyrna	28579	Carteret County	Carteret County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 729-2301	262	22	11.9	98.9%	247 (94.3%)	2 (0.8%)	8 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.9%)	$11,100			$1,229			$9,871	71.2	66.5	464	93		370063000258
372	Clyde Campbell Elementary	Public	PK, KG-6	2121 35th Avenue Drive NE	Hickory	28601	Catawba County	Catawba County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 256-2769	505	31	16.1	99.4%	305 (60.4%)	22 (4.4%)	86 (17.0%)	46 (9.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (9.1%)	$9,813			$1,428			$8,385	71.1	71.4	378	6		370069000281
373	Rockfish Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	5763 Rockfish Road	Hope Mills	28348	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 424-5313	682	43	15.8	98.8%	204 (29.9%)	236 (34.6%)	131 (19.2%)	9 (1.3%)	17 (2.5%)	4 (0.6%)	81 (11.9%)	$8,857			$1,144			$7,713	71.1	59.9	585	212		370001100430
374	Central Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	4083 Wilkesboro Hwy	Statesville	28625	Iredell County	Iredell-Statesville Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 876-0746	331	23	14.7	97.6%	287 (86.7%)	7 (2.1%)	22 (6.6%)	4 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (3.3%)	$8,200			$351			$7,848	71	74	343	31		370231000983
375	Shamrock Gardens Elementary	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-5	3301 Country Club Drive	Charlotte	28205	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(980) 343-6440	532	38	14	32.1%	295 (55.5%)	93 (17.5%)	92 (17.3%)	17 (3.2%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (6.0%)	$10,846			$1,193			$9,653	70.9	58.4	611	236		370297001271
376	Pinnacle Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	1095 Surry Line Rd	Pinnacle	27043	Stokes County	Stokes County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 368-2990	162	12	13.3	98.1%	147 (90.7%)	3 (1.9%)	5 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (4.3%)	$11,967			$1,242			$10,725	70.9	64	509	133		370438001739
377	Stokesdale Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	8025 US Highway 158	Stokesdale	27357	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 643-8420	473	30	15.5	28.8%	372 (78.6%)	30 (6.3%)	44 (9.3%)	7 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	19 (4.0%)	$9,015			$665			$8,351	70.8	71.9	372	5		370192000851
378	Salem Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1329 Salem Road	Morganton	28655	Burke County	Burke County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 437-5901	476	28	17	98.7%	377 (79.2%)	3 (0.6%)	65 (13.7%)	8 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	22 (4.6%)	$9,182			$1,028			$8,153	70.7	73.5	352	26		370048000191
379	Sand Ridge Elementary	Public	K-5	868 Sand Ridge Road	Hubert	28539	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 326-5199	527	40	13.1	62.0%	325 (61.7%)	35 (6.6%)	94 (17.8%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.8%)	2 (0.4%)	66 (12.5%)	$9,194			$773			$8,421	70.6	58.3	612	233		370345002404
380	North Belmont Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	210 School Street	Belmont	28012	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 836-9135	371	26	14.2	99.2%	172 (46.4%)	29 (7.8%)	133 (35.8%)	17 (4.6%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (4.9%)	$10,302			$1,927			$8,375	70.6	80.5	233	147		370162000701

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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.

Educational resources:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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.