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
1181	Hillcrest Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	201 Tennessee Street	Morganton	28655	Burke County	Burke County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 437-4258	254	18	14	97.6%	38 (15.0%)	17 (6.7%)	182 (71.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (6.7%)	$11,197			$1,694			$9,503	25.1	25.7	1184	3		370048000183
1182	Cook Literacy Model School	Public	PK, KG-5	920 11th Street NW	Winston Salem	27105	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 703-4201	228	20	11.4	98.7%	6 (2.6%)	168 (73.7%)	47 (20.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.1%)	$15,706			$2,747			$12,959	25.1	30.7	1086	96		370150002448
1183	R N Harris Elementary	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-5	1520 Cooper Street	Durham	27703	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(919) 560-3967	313	22	14.5	99.0%	11 (3.5%)	146 (46.6%)	136 (43.5%)	3 (1.0%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (4.8%)	$14,110			$1,680			$12,430	25.1	47.8	783	400		370126000569
1184	Oxford Elementary	Public	PK, KG-6	5915 Oxford School Road	Claremont	28610	Catawba County	Catawba County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 459-7220	540	33	16.3	98.7%	311 (57.6%)	29 (5.4%)	84 (15.6%)	71 (13.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (8.3%)	$9,354			$1,609			$7,745	25.1	27.4	1154	30		370069000287
1185	Isenberg Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2800 Jake Alexander Blvd N	Salisbury	28147	Rowan County	Rowan-Salisbury Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 639-3009	509	34	15	95.3%	95 (18.7%)	249 (48.9%)	109 (21.4%)	5 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	50 (9.8%)	$10,360			$1,726			$8,634	25	18.5	1303	118		370405002250
1186	Township Three Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	526 Davis Road	Shelby	28152	Cleveland County	Cleveland County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 476-8245	540	35	15.2	99.4%	218 (40.4%)	191 (35.4%)	65 (12.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	66 (12.2%)	$9,675			$1,374			$8,301	25	20.6	1276	90		370090000348
1187	Laurel Hill Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	11340 Old Wire Road	Laurel Hill	28351	Scotland County	Scotland County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 462-2111	662	50	13.1	98.6%	167 (25.2%)	283 (42.7%)	22 (3.3%)	3 (0.5%)	127 (19.2%)	2 (0.3%)	58 (8.8%)	$11,677			$1,806			$9,872	25	27.5	1150	37		370420001689
1188	Oak Hill Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	4603 Oak Hill School Rd.	Lenoir	28645	Caldwell County	Oak Hill Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(828) 759-1383	253	17	15.3		213 (84.2%)	6 (2.4%)	13 (5.1%)	2 (0.8%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (6.7%)								24.9	14.5	1367	179		370048303628
1189	Bladenboro Primary	Public	PK, KG-4	312 Old Whiteville Road	Bladenboro	28320	Bladen County	Bladen County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 863-3387	448	27	16.4	99.3%	225 (50.2%)	96 (21.4%)	68 (15.2%)	1 (0.2%)	11 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (10.5%)	$11,612			$1,954			$9,658	24.9	41.2	908	281		370039002150
1190	Sunset Park Elementary	Public	K-5	613 Alabama Ave	Wilmington	28401	New Hanover County	New Hanover County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 815-6948	450	35	12.9	99.3%	40 (8.9%)	103 (22.9%)	280 (62.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (5.8%)	$14,494			$2,078			$12,416	24.9	17.1	1324	134		370333001390

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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:

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

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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.