Weddington Hills Elementary

Weddington Hills Elementary is a K–5 public school in Concord, NC, within the Cabarrus County Schools district, enrolling about 1,038 students in an economically mixed area where roughly 54% of families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school holds a 3-star rating and currently ranks at the 54th percentile among North Carolina elementary schools — squarely in the middle. Its standing has swung from a high of the 73rd percentile in 2021–22 down to the mid-50s in most recent years, a sign that successes have not always carried forward. Overall math and reading proficiency is about 58%, roughly 10 points behind the district but close to the state average.

Nearby comparisons add context. Cox Mill Elementary, a 5-star school at the 97th percentile, serves a much lower-poverty population. Among schools with similar free/reduced-price lunch percentages, Charles E Boger Elementary ranks at the 75th percentile, Pitts School Road Elementary at the 71st, and R Brown McAllister Elementary at the 64th. All three outperform Weddington Hills, indicating that stronger results are possible with a similar student population.

A bright spot is 5th-grade science, at 73.5% proficiency versus the state's 67.7%, and 4th-grade math and reading are solid too. The most persistent concern is 3rd-grade reading, which has hovered in the mid-40s to low-50s for four straight years, below district and state averages. Chronic absenteeism, at 17.1%, sits better than the state's 24.2% but slightly worse than the district's 18.0% and has crept upward. Achievement varies by student group: female and multi-racial students generally do well, while male students, special education students, and English learners posted weaker recent results. Weddington Hills gives many students a solid foundation, but parents should keep an eye on early reading, support for higher-need learners, and whether the school can make its periodic gains stick.