Summary:
Zip code 27022 contains just one public middle school, Piney Grove Middle School in Lawsonville, North Carolina, which serves 189 students in grades 6 through 8 and is part of Stokes County Schools. Because there is only a single middle school in this area, there are no local schools to compare against; the most useful context comes from measuring Piney Grove against its district and the state of North Carolina.
Piney Grove stands out as a high-poverty school that performs well in several areas. Nearly all students (98.41%) qualify for free or reduced lunch, yet in the 2024-2025 school year, the school's overall EOG proficiency average was about 62.6%, well above the state's 54.0%. Its most consistent academic strength is 8th grade science, with proficiency rates of 73.1% in 2024-2025 and 75.0% in 2025-2026, both well above district and state averages. Reading is also a bright spot: 8th grade reading reached 67.2% in 2024-2025, a 13-point gap over the state. The biggest concern is math, where 6th grade proficiency fell from 64.9% to 50.7% and 8th grade fell from 61.2% to 45.0% in the most recent year. This decline helps explain why the school's statewide ranking fell from the 75th percentile in 2024-2025 to the 52nd percentile in 2025-2026.
On other measures, Piney Grove's chronic absenteeism rate of 15.8% is well below the district's 19.1% and the state's 24.2%, a strong indicator for a school with such high economic need. The school also benefits from a low student-teacher ratio of 11.2 to 1, which supports individualized instruction. Stokes County Schools ranks near the 40th percentile statewide, and Piney Grove has generally outperformed its district relative to other schools and districts in North Carolina. Overall, parents should view Piney Grove Middle School as a solid option that excels in science and reading, remains competitive with the state in most subjects, and warrants monitoring only for recent declines in math performance.
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