Summary
Pilot Elementary is a PK–5 school in southwest Greensboro, NC, serving 556 students from a high-poverty area, and it sits squarely in the middle tier of its local school cluster. In the most recent statewide rankings, Pilot lands at the 38th percentile, which means about five nearby elementary schools outperform it and five trail behind it. Higher-performing neighbors like Brooks Global Elementary, Florence Elementary, and Millis Road Elementary all rank higher, while schools such as Sedgefield Elementary and Cyrus P Frazier Elementary rank well below. Because nearly every student at Pilot and its neighbors qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, poverty levels are not what separates these schools—making attendance and instruction the more likely drivers of differences.
Academically, Pilot's greatest strength is in early elementary literacy and its support for English Learners and Special Education students. In 3rd grade, reading and math scores at Pilot were at or above district and state averages, but the school hits a serious wall in 4th-grade math, where proficiency has stayed stuck near 38–42% for several years—about 19 points behind the state average. That same weakness does not appear in 3rd grade, suggesting a transition or curriculum issue. On the bright side, Pilot's English Learner students consistently score in the top 10% of North Carolina elementary schools, earning a 5-star rating, and its Special Education students recently jumped to the 77th percentile. These are standout outcomes for a school with an overall 2-star rating.
Chronic absenteeism is the other big marker to watch. Pilot's rate has improved steadily from 37.7% in 2021–22 to 29.1% in 2024–25, but that still means roughly one in three students misses enough school to be considered chronically absent. The strongest nearby schools like Brooks and Millis have single-digit or low-teen absence rates, while lower-performing schools like Sedgefield and Frazier have rates above 33%. Pilot also spends less per student ($9,554) than several comparable local schools, though some schools that spend more, such as Hunter Elementary, still rank lower. Overall, Pilot is an improving middle-of-the-pack school with real pockets of excellence—especially in ELL and Special Ed—but closing the 4th-grade math gap and reducing absences are the key levers for moving up.
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