Northern Guilford Elementary

Northern Guilford Elementary in Greensboro, North Carolina, serves 622 kindergarten through fifth-grade students and ranks 63rd out of 1,492 elementary schools statewide — a superb record within the Guilford County Schools district, which itself ranks in the bottom half of North Carolina districts. A standout for a decade, NGE has never dipped below the 91st percentile on SchoolDigger and has earned five stars every year for the past ten years. Test proficiency runs roughly 30–40 points above district averages and 25–30 points above state averages in nearly every subject and grade level.

The biggest contrast comes from nearby schools: NGE’s free/reduced-lunch population is just 18%, while most elementary schools within a few miles — Madison Elementary, Rankin Elementary, Brightwood Elementary, Ronald E. McNair Elementary, and Reedy Fork Elementary — all report poverty rates above 98%. Chronic absenteeism is 10.1% at NGE versus 29.2% districtwide and 24.2% statewide. Jesse Wharton Elementary is a notable exception among high-poverty schools: despite a 99.4% free/reduced-lunch rate, it ranks in the 89th percentile, showing that excelling in high-need communities is possible even if NGE sits in a far more advantaged catchment area.

NGE also serves its diverse student subgroups well relative to their peers across the state, scoring in the 90th percentile or above for African American, Hispanic, White, female, male, and special education students, with low-income students at the 85th percentile. Science is a particular strength — 87.9% of 5th graders are proficient, versus 62.0% for the district. In contrast, gifted and talented students ranked only at the 58th percentile statewide in 2024–2025, a slight weak spot suggesting the school excels at raising all students to proficiency but may offer less acceleration for its highest achievers. For most families, NGE is among the finest elementary options in the Greensboro area.