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
851	East Clayton Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2075 NC Highway 42 East	Clayton	27527	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 550-5311	524	32	16.2	98.3%	143 (27.3%)	204 (38.9%)	117 (22.3%)	8 (1.5%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (9.4%)	$9,338			$524			$8,814	43.9	30.9	1083	232		370237002322
852	Leicester Elementary	Public	PK, KG-4	31 Gilbert Road	Leicester	28748	Buncombe County	Buncombe County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 683-2341	399	26	15.3	98.7%	322 (80.7%)	8 (2.0%)	61 (15.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	6 (1.5%)	$11,642			$1,459			$10,183	43.9	27.7	1145	293		370045000154
853	Union Cross Traditional Academy	Public	PK, KG-5	4300 High Point Road	Kernersville	27284	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 703-4233	549	41	13.5	99.5%	172 (31.3%)	126 (23.0%)	200 (36.4%)	15 (2.7%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (6.0%)	$10,445			$1,185			$9,260	43.9	41.8	895	42		370150000643
854	Middlesex Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	13081 West Hanes Avenue	Middlesex	27557	Nash County	Nash County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 462-2815	333	23	14.7	99.1%	114 (34.2%)	50 (15.0%)	144 (43.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (6.6%)	$10,998			$1,807			$9,191	43.8	40.2	931	77		370327001348
855	Villa Heights Elementary	Public	K-5	800 Everett Place	Charlotte	28205	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(980) 343-3666	153	15	10.3	98.0%	32 (20.9%)	81 (52.9%)	29 (19.0%)	3 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (5.2%)	$14,935			$566			$14,370	43.8	39.1	949	94		370297003466
856	Sunset Avenue Elementary	Public	3-5	505 Sunset Ave	Clinton	28328	Sampson County	Clinton City Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 592-5623	649	39	16.6	99.5%	94 (14.5%)	222 (34.2%)	278 (42.8%)	3 (0.5%)	20 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (4.9%)	$9,555			$1,262			$8,293	43.8	47.1	797	59		370093003029
857	Sedalia Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	6120 Burlington Road	Sedalia	27342	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 449-4711	535	36	14.7	98.9%	112 (20.9%)	273 (51.0%)	92 (17.2%)	17 (3.2%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (7.3%)	$9,788			$928			$8,860	43.7	39	952	95		370192000847
858	Nathanael Greene Elementary	Public	K-5	2717 NC Highway 62 East	Liberty	27298	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 685-5000	263	19	13.8	98.1%	215 (81.7%)	14 (5.3%)	21 (8.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (4.2%)	$10,736			$958			$9,777	43.6	46.2	815	43		370192000839
859	Johnson Street Global Studies	Public, Magnet	K-8	1601 Johnson Street	High Point	27262	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(336) 819-2900	389	33	11.9	97.9%	30 (7.7%)	182 (46.8%)	127 (32.6%)	37 (9.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	12 (3.1%)	$13,870			$2,178			$11,692	43.5	17.7	1314	455		370192000957
860	Mountain Discovery	Public, Charter	K-8	890 Jenkins Branch Rd N	Bryson City	28713	Swain County	Mountain Discovery Charter School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(828) 488-1222	221	14	16.2		174 (78.7%)	4 (1.8%)	3 (1.4%)	3 (1.4%)	17 (7.7%)	1 (0.5%)	19 (8.6%)								43.5	40.5	923	63		370012902614

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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

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.