Sterling Montessori Academy

Sterling Montessori Academy is a PK–8 public Montessori school serving 702 students in Morrisville, NC, in a western Wake County neighborhood lined with strong elementary schools. The school is rated as its own district — Sterling Montessori Academy, 5 stars at the 92nd percentile — while the campus itself ranks #308 of 1,492 North Carolina schools with 4 stars. The biggest difference for parents is grade span: Sterling is the only PK–8 campus in the area, while nearby schools like Davis Drive Elementary, Mills Park Elementary, and Cedar Fork Elementary stop at 5th grade and feed into Wake County Schools middle schools.

On elementary EOG tests, reading is Sterling's clear strength: roughly 77% of students across grades 3–8 score proficient, far above the state's 56%, and 3rd-grade reading tops the average at the ten nearby comparison schools. Math is the uneven spot — 4th-grade math proficiency was just 50% in 2025-2026, the lowest in the local comparison group and well below the state's 61.4%, while 5th-grade math (68.8%) trailed the 87.2% nearby-school average. Science is above state norms but runs 10–15 points behind many neighbors. This is an exceptionally strong local market: nine of the ten nearby elementary schools outrank Sterling statewide, several in the top 5%.

Sterling's middle-school results are its strongest differentiator — and they matter because none of the nearby comparison schools serve these grades. Sixth-grade reading (86.5% proficient), 8th-grade reading (84.1%), and 8th-grade science (88.6%) far exceed state averages, and every middle-grade subject beats the state by double digits. The school also posts a standout record with special education students, ranking in the 91st percentile statewide for that subgroup. Chronic absenteeism is just 10.1%, well below Wake County Schools' 20.5% and the state's 24.2%. The main trade-off is class size: Sterling's 21:1 student-teacher ratio is much higher than the 13.5:1–15.6:1 range at neighboring elementary schools. Sterling was once a top-50 school and remains a solid 4-star option, but its ranking has drifted from the 97th percentile in 2015-2016 to the 79th percentile — a pattern worth weighing.