M B Hubbard Elementary

M B Hubbard Elementary is a K–5 public school in Battleboro, NC, serving 412 students in Nash County Public Schools. Nearly all of its students (about 99%) are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, so the school serves a community with significant economic need. Hubbard currently ranks in the 32nd percentile of North Carolina elementary schools with a 2-star SchoolDigger rating. That marks real progress from the mid-2010s, when it ranked near the bottom of the state, though it slipped slightly after reaching the 37th percentile in 2024–25.

A much clearer picture emerges when you look at results by grade level. The current 5th graders are a bright spot: 72.4% scored proficient in math, compared with 59.4% across the district and 62.9% across the state. This year's 5th graders also beat the state average in science (69.0% vs. 67.7%). The opposite is true in 4th grade. Only 28.8% of 4th graders were proficient in math — about 25 points behind the district average and 33 points behind the state. This is particularly striking because the same cohort of students scored 57.1% in math as 3rd graders the year before. That suggests a grade-level weakness in 4th grade rather than a schoolwide inability to teach math, especially since last year's 4th graders went on to post strong 5th-grade scores this year.

Attendance is also improving: chronic absenteeism has fallen from 43.9% in 2020–21 to 27.0% in 2024–25, but it remains above the district rate (25.9%) and well above the strongest nearby schools. The most useful context may come from Red Oak Elementary and Nashville Elementary, same-district schools with nearly identical poverty rates that rank in the 65th–66th percentile — more than 30 points higher than Hubbard — and post lower chronic absenteeism of 16.5% and 20.9%. Hubbard has climbed out of the bottom tier already; closing the attendance gap and smoothing grade-level inconsistencies like the 4th-grade math slide would help it follow those neighboring schools' lead.