Efland Cheeks Elementary

Efland Cheeks Elementary is a PK-5 school in Efland, NC, serving 532 students as part of Orange County Schools. The school has a very high poverty rate — nearly all students qualify for free and reduced lunch — yet it has made one of the clearest upward climbs in the area. After sitting in 1-star territory for most of the late 2010s and early 2020s, it now holds a 3-star rating and ranks 529th out of 1,492 North Carolina elementary schools, placing it in the 65th percentile statewide.

The standout is fourth grade, where 82.4% of students are proficient in math and 75.3% in reading — far above district and state averages, and essentially tied with Hillsborough Elementary, a nearby school with much lower poverty. Efland Cheeks also gets strong results for groups that schools often struggle to serve well: special education students rank in the 77th percentile statewide (up from the 14th percentile just two years earlier), and low-income students rank in the 73rd. Hispanic students similarly rank in the 88th percentile.

The clearest unfinished area is 3rd-grade reading: only 51.7% of 3rd graders are proficient, below the state average and far behind Hillsborough Elementary at 76.7% and Pathways Elementary at 67.4%. Lower-poverty schools in the district still outperform Efland Cheeks overall, but by a much smaller margin than before. Compared with Central Elementary — which has nearly the same poverty rate but ranks only in the 30th percentile — Efland Cheeks is beating expectations by a wide margin. Chronic absenteeism is also better than average at 21.1%, below the district's 25.3% and the state's 24.2%. The direction is consistently upward, and that is the most important takeaway for parents.