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
121	Lincoln Heights Montessori	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-6	1900 New Castle St	Charlotte	28216	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(980) 343-9442	244	19	13	38.9%	60 (24.6%)	110 (45.1%)	39 (16.0%)	10 (4.1%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	23 (9.4%)	$15,600			$194			$15,406	89	83.2	199	78		370297003311
122	Irwin Academic Center	Public, Magnet	K-5	329 N. Irwin Ave	Charlotte	28202	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(980) 343-5480	371	27	13.9	33.4%	80 (21.6%)	196 (52.8%)	36 (9.7%)	30 (8.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (7.8%)	$11,169			$603			$10,566	88.9	76.3	306	184		370297000682
123	Cornerstone Charter Academy-CFA	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	7800 Airport Center Drive	Greensboro	27409	Guilford County	Cornerstone Charter Academy	Yes	No	No	No	(336) 482-3855	1,343	79	16.9		928 (69.1%)	138 (10.3%)	95 (7.1%)	80 (6.0%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	99 (7.4%)								88.9	90.7	106	17		370032803255
124	Cleveland Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	10225 Cleveland Rd	Clayton	27520	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 550-2700	851	45	18.9	98.6%	429 (50.4%)	164 (19.3%)	177 (20.8%)	16 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	64 (7.5%)	$8,300			$357			$7,943	88.9	89.4	122	2		370237001014
125	Hawks Nest STEAM Academy	Public, Magnet	K-5	3430 Robinwood Rd	Gastonia	28054	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(704) 866-8467	356	24	14.7	36.0%	204 (57.3%)	82 (23.0%)	36 (10.1%)	15 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	18 (5.1%)	$9,235			$809			$8,426	88.7	84.5	183	58		370162003409
126	Chicod	Public	PK, KG-8	3833 Stokestown-St. John Road	Greenville	27858	Pitt County	Pitt County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 746-6742	902	60	15.1	99.7%	653 (72.4%)	71 (7.9%)	132 (14.6%)	2 (0.2%)	5 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (4.3%)	$8,818			$645			$8,174	88.7	86.9	153	27		370001201494
127	J.V. Washam Elementary	Public	K-5	9611 Westmoreland Rd	Cornelius	28031	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 343-1071	818	47	17.5	23.2%	550 (67.2%)	66 (8.1%)	130 (15.9%)	29 (3.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (5.1%)	$8,082			$405			$7,677	88.6	87.9	143	16		370297002891
128	Jefferson Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	4000 Jefferson School Lane	Winston Salem	27106	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 703-4215	560	41	13.7	99.5%	257 (45.9%)	145 (25.9%)	78 (13.9%)	26 (4.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	54 (9.6%)	$9,794			$605			$9,190	88.6	88.3	136	8		370150000611
129	Pleasant Union Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1900 Pleasant Union Church Roa	Raleigh	27614	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 870-4230	530	36	14.7	21.1%	381 (71.9%)	47 (8.9%)	51 (9.6%)	17 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (6.4%)	$9,334			$516			$8,818	88.6	94.1	59	70		370472000198
130	The Academy of Moore County	Public, Charter	K-5	12588 HWY 15-501 South	Aberdeen	28315	Moore County	The Academy of Moore County	Yes	No	No	No	(910) 757-0401	479	29	16.5		332 (69.3%)	25 (5.2%)	54 (11.3%)	10 (2.1%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	56 (11.7%)								88.5	92.5	79	51		370003302332

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.