Summary
Moore Magnet Elementary is a pre-K–5 magnet school in Winston-Salem, NC, serving about 450 students in the Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools district, with nearly all students (99.3%) qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school's clearest strength shows up early: third-grade reading proficiency reached 63.5% in the 2025–26 school year, comfortably ahead of both the district (54.0%) and state (55.6%) averages, while third-grade math was close to those benchmarks. Attendance is also a bright spot, with chronic absenteeism at just 21.1% in 2024–25—well below the district's 33.6% and even below the state's 24.2%—suggesting that getting students to school has not been a barrier for this community.
The more concerning pattern at Moore is what happens after third grade. By fourth grade, reading proficiency falls to 40.0% and math to 37.3%; by fifth grade, reading sits at 37.0%, math at 39.1%, and science at just 42.4%, all well below district levels. When compared with nearby schools facing similar poverty rates, Moore lands in the middle. Diggs-Latham Elementary and Brunson Elementary both serve almost exclusively low-income families and yet post stronger upper-grade scores—for example, roughly 58–64% proficiency in fifth-grade math compared to Moore's 39.1%, and 64–70% in science versus Moore's 42.4%. At the other end of the spectrum, nearby Sherwood Forest Elementary and Whitaker Elementary serve far more affluent populations and achieve proficiency rates in the 70s–90s, illustrating the deep economic divides across Winston-Salem schools.
A closer look at state ranking data shows that Moore's recent decline has not been shared evenly among all groups of students. Over the past two years, historically underserved groups—including students from low-income families, English learners, and students receiving special education services—have seen their statewide percentile rankings fall sharply, some dropping from near-average performance into the bottom quartile. Meanwhile, the school maintains a favorable student-teacher ratio of 13.3, similar to or better than nearby schools, though its per-student spending is lower than several same-poverty peers. Taken together, these findings suggest Moore is a school that gets students off to a strong start in early reading but has significant room to grow in sustaining achievement through fourth and fifth grade, particularly in math and science.
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