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
171	Cool Spring Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1969 Mocksville Hwy	Cleveland	27013	Iredell County	Iredell-Statesville Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 873-4949	447	31	14.3	99.3%	298 (66.7%)	27 (6.0%)	83 (18.6%)	10 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (6.5%)	$9,664			$840			$8,824	85.1	88.1	140	31		370231000984
172	Boiling Springs Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1522 Patrick Avenue	Shelby	28152	Cleveland County	Cleveland County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 476-8361	558	38	14.8	99.5%	389 (69.7%)	82 (14.7%)	42 (7.5%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (7.7%)	$9,229			$1,162			$8,067	85.1	76.2	307	135		370090000335
173	Knotts Island Elementary	Public	K-5	413 Woodleigh Road	Knotts Island	27950	Currituck County	Currituck County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 722-0770	91	7	13	44.0%	78 (85.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.3%)	1 (1.1%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (8.8%)	$18,970			$771			$18,200	85	82.9	207	34		370108000452
174	Junaluska Elementary	Public	K-5	2238 Asheville Road	Waynesville	28786	Haywood County	Haywood County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 456-2407	428	27	15.6	99.3%	354 (82.7%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (9.3%)	5 (1.2%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (6.1%)	$9,950			$1,085			$8,865	85	80.8	230	56		370204000903
175	Southwest Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1631 Southwest School Drive	Clemmons	27012	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 703-4195	546	36	15	37.7%	352 (64.5%)	53 (9.7%)	67 (12.3%)	28 (5.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (8.2%)	$9,396			$732			$8,664	84.9	92.1	85	90		370150000641
176	Fairview Elementary	Public	K-5	1355 Charlotte Hwy	Fairview	28730	Buncombe County	Buncombe County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 628-2732	646	38	16.8	97.4%	555 (85.9%)	8 (1.2%)	53 (8.2%)	5 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (3.9%)	$10,427			$1,254			$9,173	84.9	82.2	213	37		370045000148
177	Fairview Elementary	Public	K-5	110 Clontz Road	Monroe	28110	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-6332	394	28	14	35.3%	308 (78.2%)	6 (1.5%)	66 (16.8%)	8 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.5%)	$11,109			$766			$10,343	84.8	86.6	157	20		370462001791
178	Underwood Elementary	Public, Magnet	K-5	1614 Glenwood Avenue	Raleigh	27608	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 856-7663	405	36	11.4	29.9%	237 (58.5%)	85 (21.0%)	50 (12.3%)	15 (3.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (4.4%)	$11,726			$564			$11,163	84.8	87	151	27		370472001897
179	Alpha Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	8030 Raeford Road	Fayetteville	28304	Cumberland County	Alpha Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(910) 223-7711	960	55	17.5	67.5%	109 (11.4%)	509 (53.0%)	203 (21.1%)	23 (2.4%)	9 (0.9%)	15 (1.6%)	92 (9.6%)								84.7	80.5	234	55		370010302511
180	The Downtown School	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-8	601 N Cherry Street	Winston Salem	27101	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(336) 703-4125	453	35	13	24.9%	211 (46.6%)	154 (34.0%)	41 (9.1%)	8 (1.8%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	36 (7.9%)	$11,387			$620			$10,767	84.7	80.2	239	59		370150002293

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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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

Public School Districts and Their Services: 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.