Best Elementary Schools in North Carolina

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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
461	Penny Road Elementary	Public	K-5	10900 Penny Rd	Cary	27518	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 387-2136	509	38	13.4	36.9%	286 (56.2%)	73 (14.3%)	107 (21.0%)	21 (4.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (4.1%)	$9,556			$424			$9,132	66.5	62	542	81		370472002223
462	Valle Crucis Elementary	Public	PK, KG-8	175 Pioneer Trail	Boone	28607	Watauga County	Watauga County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 963-4712	345	27	12.5	40.3%	285 (82.6%)	4 (1.2%)	48 (13.9%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	6 (1.7%)	$10,351			$520			$9,831	66.4	77.8	285	177		370483001941
463	Johnston Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	40 Scholar Drive	Clayton	27520	Johnston County	Johnston Charter Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 879-8190	677	35	19.4	50.5%	269 (39.7%)	206 (30.4%)	116 (17.1%)	17 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	69 (10.2%)								66.2	61.9	546	83		370043003449
464	Poplar Springs Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	223 Hobe Kiser Road	King	27021	Stokes County	Stokes County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 985-0234	495	31	15.9	99.4%	413 (83.4%)	10 (2.0%)	49 (9.9%)	11 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.4%)	$9,813			$1,074			$8,739	66.1	55.6	652	188		370438003252
465	Tryon Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	100 School Place	Tryon	28782	Polk County	Polk County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 859-6584	367	27	13.7	99.2%	238 (64.9%)	36 (9.8%)	64 (17.4%)	4 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (6.8%)	$12,033			$1,081			$10,952	66.1	76.1	308	157		370372002230
466	Smithfield Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	3200 Smithfield Church Rd	Charlotte	28210	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 343-6550	672	40	16.6	47.8%	285 (42.4%)	131 (19.5%)	196 (29.2%)	23 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (5.5%)	$9,214			$516			$8,698	66	60.6	573	107		370297000889
467	Pinewood Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1925 N Main Street	Mount Holly	28120	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 836-9138	508	33	15.4	99.4%	271 (53.3%)	65 (12.8%)	109 (21.5%)	21 (4.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (8.1%)	$8,545			$911			$7,633	65.9	49.3	757	290		370162000704
468	Shuford Elementary	Public	K-5	810 Hunsucker Drive	Conover	28613	Catawba County	Newton Conover City Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 464-1973	402	27	15.1	96.3%	161 (40.0%)	26 (6.5%)	120 (29.9%)	47 (11.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	48 (11.9%)	$8,223			$1,056			$7,167	65.9	65.9	476	8		370336001403
469	Weddington Hills Elementary	Public, Magnet	K-5	4401 Weddington Road	Concord	28025	Cabarrus County	Cabarrus County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(704) 260-6350	1,038	68	15.1	53.9%	344 (33.1%)	198 (19.1%)	329 (31.7%)	102 (9.8%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	63 (6.1%)	$8,873			$892			$7,981	65.7	53.4	692	223		370053001818
470	Greenwood Elementary	Public	K-5	1127 Greenwood Rd	Sanford	27330	Lee County	Lee County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 776-0506	571	39	14.8	99.5%	246 (43.1%)	61 (10.7%)	220 (38.5%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	39 (6.8%)	$9,213			$1,139			$8,074	65.6	69.7	414	56		370256002305

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for North Carolina

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.