Summary
Tabor City School is a PK–8 school in rural Tabor City, North Carolina, serving 598 students and part of Columbus County Schools. The school currently holds a 0-star rating and sits at the 10th percentile statewide (rank 1,344 of 1,492), a drop from the 17th percentile the previous year. Nearly every student (99.5%) qualifies for free/reduced-price lunch, reflecting an extremely high level of economic disadvantage shared by most surrounding schools.
Academically, Tabor City School struggles most in the elementary grades. Only 25.4% of 4th graders are proficient in both reading and math, roughly 30 points behind the state average, and 5th grade science proficiency stands at just 29.1% compared with 67.7% statewide. Middle school math is the clearest bright spot, with 6th grade math proficiency (58.9%) nearly matching the state (59.2%). The contrast with Williams Township, a similarly sized PK–8 school just 7 miles away with an identical 99.5% FRPL rate, is striking: Williams Township sits at the state median (50th percentile, 3 stars) while Tabor City is at the 10th percentile. In 5th grade math, the gap is 60.3% versus 27.3%. Chronic absenteeism at Tabor City (28.8%) also runs above the state average (24.2%) and well above Williams Township's 20.6%.
Perhaps most tellingly, Tabor City's effectiveness scores for every student subgroup — female, male, African American, White, and low-income students — all fell from the prior year and now sit below the 15th percentile statewide. Poverty alone does not explain these results: Old Dock Elementary, in the same district with a similar FRPL rate and similar absenteeism, ranks at the 94th percentile. West Columbus School is the only nearby PK–8 school ranking lower. Tabor City's middle school math results suggest real strengths to build on, but the school has substantial room to grow, and neighboring schools prove stronger outcomes are possible under similar circumstances.
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