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
481	Millers Creek Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	4320 North NC Hwy 16	Millers Creek	28651	Wilkes County	Wilkes County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 903-6000	699	46	15.1	99.6%	484 (69.2%)	5 (0.7%)	166 (23.7%)	4 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (5.7%)	$9,599			$1,250			$8,349	65.3	73.9	345	136		370495002656
482	Parkside Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2945 Johnston-Oehler Rd	Charlotte	28269	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 343-9915	437	27	16.1	99.3%	36 (8.2%)	284 (65.0%)	60 (13.7%)	27 (6.2%)	3 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	26 (5.9%)	$10,513			$809			$9,704	65.2	53.9	686	204		370297003369
483	Star Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	302 S Main Street	Star	27356	Montgomery County	Montgomery County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 428-4333	272	18	15.1	98.9%	140 (51.5%)	10 (3.7%)	101 (37.1%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (7.0%)	$10,072			$1,399			$8,673	65.2	55.6	647	164		370306002099
484	Meadow Lane Elementary	Public	PK, KG-4	3500 E Ash Street	Goldsboro	27534	Wayne County	Wayne County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 751-7150	674	45	15	98.8%	225 (33.4%)	258 (38.3%)	119 (17.7%)	16 (2.4%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	53 (7.9%)	$10,168			$1,465			$8,703	65.1	69.4	419	65		370488001956
485	Banoak Elementary	Public	K-6	7651 W NC 10 Hwy	Vale	28168	Catawba County	Catawba County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 462-2849	291	17	16.6	99.0%	230 (79.0%)	5 (1.7%)	25 (8.6%)	9 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (7.6%)	$9,603			$1,411			$8,191	65	69.2	421	64		370069000275
486	Pinnacle Classical Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2401 Joes Lake Rd	Shelby	28152	Cleveland County	Pinnacle Classical Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 740-4040	1,178	42	27.7		848 (72.0%)	122 (10.4%)	86 (7.3%)	27 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	95 (8.1%)								64.9	78.1	276	210		370035303291
487	Ray Childers Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1183 Cape Hickory Road	Hickory	28601	Burke County	Burke County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 324-1340	460	29	15.7	99.3%	304 (66.1%)	6 (1.3%)	58 (12.6%)	61 (13.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	30 (6.5%)	$10,027			$1,439			$8,588	64.9	63.7	514	27		370048002431
488	J S Waters School	Public	K-8	55 J S Waters School Road	Goldston	27252	Chatham County	Chatham County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 898-2259	222	18	12.4	98.6%	144 (64.9%)	24 (10.8%)	35 (15.8%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (8.1%)	$12,630			$1,275			$11,355	64.9	65.3	483	5		370075000310
489	North Forest Pines Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	11501 Forest Pines Drive	Raleigh	27614	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 570-2220	536	37	14.4	41.6%	266 (49.6%)	88 (16.4%)	143 (26.7%)	10 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	26 (4.9%)	$9,951			$575			$9,376	64.6	67.7	447	42		370472002824
490	Atkinson Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2510 Old Kanuga Road	Hendersonville	28739	Henderson County	Henderson County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 697-4755	288	22	13.2	42.4%	240 (83.3%)	5 (1.7%)	26 (9.0%)	3 (1.0%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (1.0%)	10 (3.5%)	$9,752			$871			$8,881	64.5	77.9	280	210		370210002094

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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

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.