Best Public Schools in Zip Code 27243

Summary:

The 27243 zip code area is home to two schools - Efland Cheeks Elementary and Gravelly Hill Middle, both part of the Orange County Schools district. While Efland Cheeks Elementary has shown strong academic performance, particularly in 3rd-5th grade math, Gravelly Hill Middle has maintained relatively high 8th grade science proficiency but lags behind the district and state averages in several other subject areas.

Efland Cheeks Elementary has an enrollment of 550 students and a free/reduced lunch rate of 69.82%, indicating it serves a more economically disadvantaged student population. The school has shown improvement in its statewide ranking, moving from 943rd out of 1,502 elementary schools in 2022-2023 to 533rd out of 1,490 in 2024-2025. In contrast, Gravelly Hill Middle has an enrollment of 415 students and a free/reduced lunch rate of 53.01%, and has maintained a consistent 2-star rating from SchoolDigger over the past three school years.

Both schools have similar per-student spending, with Efland Cheeks at $11,292 and Gravelly Hill at $11,455 for the 2018-2019 school year. However, Efland Cheeks has a slightly higher student-teacher ratio of 13.8 compared to 12.8 at Gravelly Hill Middle. The data highlights the disparities in academic performance between the two schools, with Efland Cheeks excelling in math and Gravelly Hill Middle lagging behind in several subject areas.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				EOG Mathematics (2025)						EOG Reading (2025)						EOG Science (2025)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	EOG Mathematics 3rd Grade	EOG Mathematics 4th Grade	EOG Mathematics 5th Grade	EOG Mathematics 6th Grade	EOG Mathematics 7th Grade	EOG Mathematics 8th Grade	EOG Reading 3rd Grade	EOG Reading 4th Grade	EOG Reading 5th Grade	EOG Reading 6th Grade	EOG Reading 7th Grade	EOG Reading 8th Grade	EOG Science 5th Grade	EOG Science 8th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Efland Cheeks Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	4401 Fuller Rd	Efland	27243	Orange County	Orange County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 245-4042	532	36	14.7	99.4%	175 (32.9%)	129 (24.2%)	154 (28.9%)	26 (4.9%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (8.8%)	61.9	533^rd of 1490 public elementary schools	64.2%		42.1	884^th of 1505 public elementary schools	41.3%	351	75.0	78.7	56.1				50.6	67.4	54.1				52.0		$11,292	$882	$10,410
Gravelly Hill Middle	Public	6-8	4801 West Ten Road	Efland	27243	Orange County	Orange County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 245-4050	415	31	13.4	56.4%	187 (45.1%)	86 (20.7%)	99 (23.9%)	11 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (7.7%)	48.3	399^th of 773 public middle schools	48.4%		42.9	461^st of 793 public middle schools	41.9%	62				55.6	38.5	52.6				45.1	47.5	60.9		61.7	$11,455	$480	$10,975

Cities Near Zip Code 27243

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Efland	0.34 mi	2	193^rd
Mebane	2.09 mi	9	249^th
Hillsborough	4.5 mi	12	108^th
Haw River	7.56 mi	3	406^th
Chapel Hill	8 mi	22	59^th

See the top NC North Carolina cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.