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
971	Penderlea Elementary	Public	K-8	11 Garden Road	Willard	28478	Pender County	Pender County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 285-2761	468	33	14.1	99.4%	235 (50.2%)	83 (17.7%)	108 (23.1%)	4 (0.9%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	34 (7.3%)	$9,390			$895			$8,495	36.6	34.2	1022	51		370357001467
972	Trenton Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1378 Hwy 58 South	Trenton	28585	Jones County	Jones County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 448-3441	153	12	12.6	98.0%	62 (40.5%)	49 (32.0%)	24 (15.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (11.1%)	$16,190			$1,876			$14,314	36.6	31.8	1066	94		370240001038
973	Sawmills Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	4436 Sawmills School Road	Granite Falls	28630	Caldwell County	Caldwell County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 396-2610	351	20	17.2	99.1%	272 (77.5%)	7 (2.0%)	46 (13.1%)	5 (1.4%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (5.7%)	$11,245			$974			$10,271	36.5	33.8	1033	60		370058000238
974	Kernersville Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	512 W Mountain Street	Kernersville	27284	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 703-4100	568	46	12.4	99.5%	136 (23.9%)	125 (22.0%)	252 (44.4%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	50 (8.8%)	$10,687			$1,397			$9,290	36.5	37.2	977	3		370150000613
975	Colerain Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	202 N Academy Street	Colerain	27924	Bertie County	Bertie County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 356-4714	193	17	11.6	98.4%	26 (13.5%)	159 (82.4%)	3 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.6%)	$13,354			$2,225			$11,129	36.4	41.7	897	78		370036000107
976	Kestrel Heights School	Public, Charter	K-8	4700 South Alston Ave.	Durham	27713	Durham County	Kestrel Heights School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 484-1300	421	29	14.4	56.3%	29 (6.9%)	244 (58.0%)	86 (20.4%)	29 (6.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (7.8%)								36.3	45.2	831	145		370005502376
977	Merrick-Moore Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2325 Cheek Road	Durham	27704	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 560-3952	445	35	12.6	99.3%	17 (3.8%)	175 (39.3%)	232 (52.1%)	4 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	16 (3.6%)	$13,272			$3,313			$9,959	36.3	38.7	960	17		370126000543
978	Farmer Elementary School	Public	K-5	3557 Grange Hall Rd	Asheboro	27205	Randolph County	Randolph County School System	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 628-8370	230	16	14.8	98.7%	197 (85.7%)	1 (0.4%)	17 (7.4%)	8 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.0%)	$11,185			$1,351			$9,834	36.2	49.2	759	219		370378001520
979	Martins Creek Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1459 Tobe Stalcup Road	Murphy	28906	Cherokee County	Cherokee County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 837-2831	137	9	14.6	97.8%	122 (89.1%)	3 (2.2%)	6 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.2%)	$14,033			$1,512			$12,522	36.1	67.9	444	535		370078000321
980	Yadkinville Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	305 North State Street	Yadkinville	27055	Yadkin County	Yadkin County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 551-1175	478	34	14.1	96.4%	219 (45.8%)	17 (3.6%)	211 (44.1%)	3 (0.6%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	25 (5.2%)	$10,208			$1,167			$9,041	36	32.4	1058	78		370504002022

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.