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
1251	Steele Creek Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	2200 Shopton Road	Charlotte	28217	Mecklenburg County	Steele Creek Preparatory Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(980) 243-5580	335	8	41.8	89.9%	6 (1.8%)	220 (65.7%)	82 (24.5%)	8 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (5.7%)								21.6	16.3	1337	86		370045403501
1252	Fox Road Elementary	Public, Magnet	K-5	7101 Fox Rd	Raleigh	27616	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(919) 850-8845	430	32	13.4	99.3%	65 (15.1%)	198 (46.0%)	134 (31.2%)	18 (4.2%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.0%)	$12,594			$1,648			$10,946	21.5	19.5	1294	42		370472002222
1253	Tillery Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-7	170 Academy Street	Biscoe	27209	Montgomery County	Tillery Charter Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(910) 828-4143	231	17	13.9		163 (70.6%)	25 (10.8%)	23 (10.0%)	7 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (5.6%)								21.4	36.3	989	264		370044703509
1254	Conway Middle	Public	4-8	400 East Main Street	Conway	27820	Northampton County	Northampton County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 585-0312	259	19	13.6	98.8%	17 (6.6%)	197 (76.1%)	27 (10.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	17 (6.6%)	$13,857			$1,798			$12,059	21.3	24.7	1197	57		370342001407
1255	University Meadows Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1600 Pavilion Blvd	Charlotte	28262	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(980) 343-3685	737	38	19.1	99.6%	46 (6.2%)	418 (56.7%)	212 (28.8%)	32 (4.3%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	27 (3.7%)	$10,305			$1,460			$8,845	21.3	15.6	1353	98		370297000652
1256	Wildwood Forest Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	8401 Wildwood Forest Drive	Raleigh	27616	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 713-0600	551	45	12.3	99.5%	53 (9.6%)	287 (52.1%)	163 (29.6%)	27 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (3.8%)	$10,167			$1,043			$9,125	21.2	19.8	1286	30		370472002493
1257	Vanceboro-Farm Life Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2000 Farm Life Avenue	Vanceboro	28586	Craven County	Craven County Board of Education	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 244-3215	494	31	15.6	98.2%	227 (46.0%)	164 (33.2%)	54 (10.9%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	45 (9.1%)	$10,168			$1,737			$8,430	21.2	38.8	955	302		370331002173
1258	Tar Heel School	Public	PK, KG-8	14888 Hwy 87 West	Tar Heel	28392	Bladen County	Bladen County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 862-2475	449	26	17.4	95.5%	115 (25.6%)	133 (29.6%)	165 (36.7%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.2%)	1 (0.2%)	25 (5.6%)	$9,148			$1,514			$7,634	21.1	28.1	1136	122		370039002619
1259	West Columbus School	Public	PK, KG-8	7685 Andrew Jackson Hwy SW	Cerro Gordo	28430	Columbus County	Columbus County Schools	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(910) 654-4250	814	49	16.5	99.6%	417 (51.2%)	250 (30.7%)	72 (8.8%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (0.9%)	1 (0.1%)	67 (8.2%)								21	21.4	1259			370096003621
1260	West Smithfield Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2665 Galilee Road	Smithfield	27577	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 989-6418	494	38	13.1	97.4%	72 (14.6%)	127 (25.7%)	264 (53.4%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (5.7%)	$11,944			$1,669			$10,274	21	28.2	1135	125		370237001026

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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.