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Knotts Island Elementary

Q: Is Knotts Island Elementary a good school?

Knotts Island Elementary ranks 276 th of 1492 North Carolina elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

Public Grades PK, KG-5

276^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 1,492 North Carolina Elementary Schools

Better than 82% of North Carolina elementary schools

Summary

Knotts Island Elementary is a very small, rural PK–5 school in Knotts Island, NC, serving 91 students as part of Currituck County Schools. In the most recent state ranking, the school earned a 4-star rating and placed in the 82nd percentile (276th out of 1,492 elementary schools), making it the highest-ranked elementary school in the immediate area — ahead of W T Griggs Elementary, Moyock Elementary, Shawboro Elementary School, and Central Elementary. It even outranks Camden Intermediate, which belongs to the neighboring Camden County Schools.

Knotts Island's academic signature is clearly math and science. In the most recent testing year, 93.8% of 3rd graders and 90.9% of 5th graders scored proficient in math — far above district and state averages, and well ahead of nearby schools. Fifth-grade science is similarly strong at 90.9%, beating every comparable school in the area by a wide margin. Reading results are more uneven: while some grade levels post solid scores, 4th-grade reading (52.9%) dipped below the state average in the most recent year. Because the school's classes are extremely small — roughly a dozen students per grade — year-to-year swings can be dramatic, so it's worth looking at several years of data rather than any single year.

The school also stands out for its learning environment. The student-teacher ratio is just 13:1, and per-pupil spending of about $18,970 is roughly double that of Moyock Elementary. Chronic absenteeism (16.6%) is well below the Currituck County Schools average of 25.5% — an especially strong sign given that the share of students receiving free/reduced lunch has risen to 44%. In short, Knotts Island combines small classes, strong attendance, and exceptionally high math and science achievement, with reading as the main area to watch across grade levels.

Students ?

13.0

Student/teacher ratio ?

44%

Free/discounted lunch ?

413 Woodleigh Road
Knotts Island, NC 27950

(252) 722-0770

District: Currituck County Schools

Students who attend Knotts Island Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Moyock Middle
High:	Currituck County High

Racial breakdown:

White:

85.7%

Two or more races:

8.8%

Hispanic:

3.3%

See top rated North Carolina elementary schools

Compare Knotts Island Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

At a glance

▼ Ranking trend: Recently slipping — 90th percentile in 2017 → 82nd in 2026

Strengths

✓Test scores above the North Carolina average (75% vs 61% meeting standards)

✓Ranks in the top 18% of North Carolina elementary schools

Worth a look

!Ranking has slipped from its 90th-percentile peak (2017) to 82nd (2026)

!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing

Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?

This school75%

District avg66%

North Carolina avg61%

276^th of 1,492

North Carolina public elementary schools ?

Top 18%▲ up 15 pts since 2016

From top 34% (2016) to top 18% (2026)

See the entire ranking list of North Carolina Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

49^th of 246Currituck County Schools among North Carolina districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	77.2	276 of 1492	81.5%	★★★★☆
2025	85.0	173 of 1490	88.4%	★★★★☆
2024	82.9	207 of 1505	86.2%	★★★★☆
2023	84.2	180 of 1502	88.0%	★★★★☆
2022	60.7	578 of 1514	61.8%	★★★☆☆
2021	61.0	555 of 1489	62.7%	★★★☆☆
2019	77.0	273 of 1473	81.5%	★★★★☆
2018	64.2	510 of 1434	64.4%	★★★☆☆
2017	85.0	148 of 1429	89.6%	★★★★☆
2016	65.2	479 of 1425	66.4%	★★★☆☆
2015	68.7	441 of 1440	69.4%	★★★☆☆
2014	84.1	178 of 1390	87.2%	★★★★☆
2013	83.8	173 of 1403	87.7%	★★★★☆
2012	87.6	73 of 1388	94.7%	★★★★★
2011	68.2	449 of 1381	67.5%	★★★☆☆
2010	80.3	189 of 1363	86.1%	★★★★☆
2009	76.1	275 of 1354	79.7%	★★★★☆
2008	72.1	311 of 1324	76.5%	★★★★☆
2007	69.9	342 of 1293	73.5%	★★★★☆
2006	72.3	304 of 1276	76.2%	★★★★☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2023	81.5	194 of 1459	86.7%	★★★★☆
2022	48.0	747 of 1458	48.8%	★★☆☆☆

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	50.1	592 of 1146	48.3%	★★☆☆☆
2025	60.5	440 of 1172	62.5%	★★★☆☆
2024	48.6	632 of 1166	45.8%	★★☆☆☆
2023	51.5	594 of 1183	49.8%	★★☆☆☆
2022	13.4	1118 of 1194	6.4%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	59.8	469 of 1183	60.4%	★★★☆☆
2018	41.1	769 of 1178	34.7%	★★☆☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

Female (2023)87th percentile~ school

White (2026)48th percentile-33 vs school

By subject vs North Carolina (2025-2026) ?

Science91%+23 vs state

Mathematics82%+18 vs state

Reading64%+7 vs state

4.0

1 rating · 1 written review

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What people are saying

by a citizen
Tuesday, December 12, 2023

KIES has a very caring staff and works extremely hard to meet the needs of the students. Close Quote

Schools Near Knotts Island Elementary

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				EOG Mathematics (2026)			EOG Reading (2026)			EOG Science (2026)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients (2025)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	EOG Mathematics 3rd Grade	EOG Mathematics 4th Grade	EOG Mathematics 5th Grade	EOG Reading 3rd Grade	EOG Reading 4th Grade	EOG Reading 5th Grade	EOG Science 5th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Knotts Island Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	413 Woodleigh Road	Knotts Island	27950	Currituck County	Currituck County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 722-0770	91	7	13.0	44.0%	78 (85.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.3%)	1 (1.1%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (8.8%)	77.2	276^th of 1492 public elementary schools	81.5%		85	173^rd of 1490 public elementary schools	88.4%	103	93.8	64.7	90.9	75.0	52.9	63.6	90.9	$18,970	$771	$18,200
Central Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	504 Shortcut Road	Barco	27917	Currituck County	Currituck County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 453-0010	264	16	16.6	44.7%	172 (65.2%)	26 (9.8%)	27 (10.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	37 (14.0%)	40.2	903^rd of 1492 public elementary schools	39.5%		48.3	771^st of 1490 public elementary schools	48.3%	132	63.6	57.1	44.4	59.1	45.7	41.7	66.7	$12,758	$1,371	$11,388
Water's Edge Village School	Public, Charter	K-8	1126 Schoolhouse Lane	Corolla	27927	Currituck County	Water's Edge Village School	Yes	No	No	No	(252) 453-4502	50	4	12.5		38 (76.0%)	2 (4.0%)	5 (10.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (10.0%)								(n/a)		61.5			69.2
Shawboro Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	370 Shawboro Road	Shawboro	27973	Currituck County	Currituck County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 232-2237	625	39	16.0	35.7%	484 (77.4%)	36 (5.8%)	47 (7.5%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	53 (8.5%)	66.7	474^th of 1492 public elementary schools	68.2%		68.4	420^th of 1490 public elementary schools	71.8%	54	82.0	63.5	59.0	65.0	59.1	62.0	77.0	$9,905	$834	$9,070
Moyock Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	255 Tulls Creek Road	Moyock	27958	Currituck County	Currituck County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 435-6521	740	36	20.7	21.1%	545 (73.6%)	34 (4.6%)	74 (10.0%)	6 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	81 (10.9%)	66.3	484^th of 1492 public elementary schools	67.6%		71.5	367^th of 1490 public elementary schools	75.4%	117	70.1	58.6	77.3	58.1	62.1	65.2	74.2	$8,539	$473	$8,067
W T Griggs Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	261 Poplar Branch Road	Poplar Branch	27965	Currituck County	Currituck County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 453-2700	258	19	13.6	58.1%	167 (64.7%)	1 (0.4%)	61 (23.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (11.2%)	70.2	411^th of 1492 public elementary schools	72.5%		75.5	311^th of 1490 public elementary schools	79.1%	100	92.9	78.4	53.8	59.5	75.7	63.5	71.2	$10,878	$606	$10,272
Grandy Primary	Public	PK, KG-2	175 NC Hwy 343 North	Camden	27921	Camden County	Camden County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 331-4838	415	33	12.4	30.1%	332 (80.0%)	27 (6.5%)	24 (5.8%)	2 (0.5%)	2 (0.5%)	2 (0.5%)	26 (6.3%)								(n/a)								$10,230	$633	$9,597
Camden Intermediate	Public	3-5	123 Noblitt Drive	Camden	27921	Camden County	Camden County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 335-7808	461	29	15.9	29.5%	378 (82.0%)	21 (4.6%)	30 (6.5%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	28 (6.1%)	64.7	509^th of 1492 public elementary schools	65.9%		69.4	404^th of 1490 public elementary schools	72.9%	105	88.0	69.3	62.0	65.4	57.2	56.0	68.7	$9,295	$649	$8,646

Frequently Asked Questions about Knotts Island Elementary

How many students attend Knotts Island Elementary?

In the 2024-25 school year, 91 students attended Knotts Island Elementary.

What district is Knotts Island Elementary in?

Currituck County Schools

Is Knotts Island Elementary a good school?

Knotts Island Elementary ranks 276^th of 1492 North Carolina elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

What schools do graduates of Knotts Island Elementary attend?

Students who attend Knotts Island Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Moyock Middle
High : Currituck County High

What is the racial makeup of Knotts Island Elementary?

Students at Knotts Island Elementary are 86% White, 9% Two or more races, 3% Hispanic, 1% Asian, 1% American Indian.

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Schools in Knotts Island, NC

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Latest North Carolina data All new data »

2017–18 through 2025–26 attendance data & graduation ratesSep 2, 2026

2025–26 EOC & EOG test scoresSep 2, 2026

2016–17 through 2024–25 graduation ratesSep 3, 2025

2024–25 EOC & EOG test scoresSep 3, 2025

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.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.