Summary:
ZIP code 27021, which includes the town of King in Stokes County, North Carolina, is served by a single middle school—Chestnut Grove Middle School—covering grades 6 through 8 with an enrollment of 662 students. The school belongs to Stokes County Schools, a district rated 2 stars and ranked 147th out of 246 districts statewide, yet Chestnut Grove itself earns a 4-star rating and ranks 225th out of 778 North Carolina middle schools, placing it in the 71st percentile. Notably, 98% of its students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, making its strong academic performance especially impressive.
Chestnut Grove outperforms its district in every tested subject and grade and beats the state in all math grades and in 8th-grade science. For the 2025–2026 school year, 8th-grade math proficiency reached 72.0% compared to the state's 53.0%, and 8th-grade science hit 78.7% versus 68.6% statewide. Math scores are consistently strong across all three grades, ranging from 65.9% to 72.0%. Reading results are more mixed: the school beats its district in all grades but trails the state slightly in 6th- and 7th-grade reading, while 8th-grade reading sits at 60.7% versus the state's 56.1%. The school also improved significantly from the prior year, including 8th-grade reading jumping from 50.2% to 60.7% and 8th-grade math rising from 64.5% to 72.0%.
One concern is chronic absenteeism: 25.8% of Chestnut Grove students were chronically absent in 2024–2025, above both the district's 19.1% and the state's 24.2% averages. Even so, Chestnut Grove is a clear bright spot within an otherwise mid-to-low-performing district, beating district proficiency rates by 15 to 20 percentage points in some subjects. Its ranking history shows consistency—4 stars in 2023–2024, a dip to 3 stars in 2024–2025, and a return to 4 stars in 2025–2026. For parents, the bottom line is that Chestnut Grove Middle School is a high-poverty, high-performing school with real strengths in math and science, improving reading scores, and a solid statewide reputation.
Thank you for your feedback!