Summary
Chapel Grove Elementary is a PK–5 public school in Gastonia, North Carolina, serving about 382 students as part of Gaston County Schools. The school serves an exceptionally high-poverty population, with roughly 99% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. On the most recent state rankings, Chapel Grove placed 1,221 out of 1,492 North Carolina elementary schools — landing in the 18th percentile with a 1-star rating. That is below the district average and behind several nearby schools, though it is not the lowest-performing elementary school in its immediate area.
Academically, Chapel Grove has real strengths in the early grades and in science. In 3rd-grade math, 59.3% of students scored proficient, slightly above the Gaston County average of 57.5%. Fifth-grade science is also relatively strong, finishing within about 9 points of the state average. The bigger concern is upper-elementary reading and math: by 4th grade, math proficiency drops to 37.9%, more than 20 points below the district, and 5th-grade reading and math trail state averages by roughly 12–17 points. Compared with nearby schools, Chapel Grove sits in the middle of the pack. Hawks Nest STEAM Academy ranks in the 92nd percentile with very high test scores, but serves a very different population, with far lower poverty and much better attendance. Meanwhile, H H Beam Elementary, Lingerfeldt Elementary, and Edward D Sadler Junior Elementary School serve similarly high-poverty student bodies but rank in the bottom 10% of the state — well below Chapel Grove’s results.
Subgroup data shows pockets of resilience, especially for English Learner and low-income students, who ranked at the 35th percentile statewide in the most recent year — notably better than the school’s overall ranking. Effectiveness measures were weaker for boys and special education students. Chronic absenteeism, a major barrier to learning, has improved dramatically from 43.8% in 2020–21 to 24.2% in 2024–25, though that still means roughly one in four students misses enough school to be considered chronically absent. Nearby Robinson Elementary has a lower chronic absenteeism rate near 18%, showing improvement is possible. Chapel Grove’s biggest opportunity likely lies in carrying its early-grade momentum into 4th and 5th grade while continuing to reduce absenteeism.
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