W R Odell Elementary

W R Odell Elementary is a grades 3–5 public elementary school in Concord, NC, serving roughly 1,052 students as part of Cabarrus County Schools, and it has established itself as one of the strongest elementary schools in North Carolina. Unusually, it is not a typical K–5 campus: W R Odell Elementary works alongside W R Odell Primary, which serves kindergarten through 2nd grade less than a mile away. The school has earned a 5-star rating every year since 2018–2019 and currently ranks 37th out of 1,492 elementary schools statewide — the 98th percentile — with a top-50 finish in each of the last several years.

Classroom results back up those rankings. In 2025–2026, Odell's math proficiency across grades 3–5 ranged from roughly 87% to 90%, while reading proficiency ranged from 79% to 87% and 5th grade science reached 92.6%. Those numbers run about 15–30 percentage points above state averages in nearly every subject and grade. Odell also keeps chronic absenteeism remarkably low at 10.1%, compared with 18% for Cabarrus County Schools and 24.2% statewide. The school serves several student groups exceptionally well: English Learner students rank 5th among 519 schools statewide, and Hispanic, African American, and low-income students all place in the top 10–15% of elementary schools across North Carolina.

Within the Concord area, the closest academic comparison is Cox Mill Elementary, another top-50 school whose math, reading, and science scores are nearly identical to Odell's. What makes Odell's results especially notable is that they come without unusually small classes or extra funding — its student-teacher ratio of 17.7 is higher than most nearby schools, and its per-pupil spending is lower. One area families may want to investigate is the gifted and talented subgroup, which ranks near the middle statewide — a contrast with the school's otherwise top-tier results. For a stable, high-achieving upper-elementary experience in the Concord area, Odell is an outstanding option.