Summary:
Zip code 27316, serving the Ramseur, NC area, contains four public schools—two elementary, one middle, and one high school—all part of the Randolph County School System, a lower-ranked district in North Carolina operating in a very high-poverty context where nearly every student (around 99%) qualifies for free/reduced-price lunch. Roughly 1,668 students attend these schools, with Eastern Randolph High School as the largest and Coleridge Elementary School the smallest.
Coleridge Elementary School is the clear standout, climbing from the 11th to the 36th percentile in state rankings over two years and earning the only 2-star rating in the zip code. In the latest test data, Coleridge posted the highest average proficiency (about 53%) and was the only school to exceed state averages in any subject, specifically 3rd-grade math and 5th-grade science. It outperforms nearby Ramseur Elementary School despite Ramseur spending more per student ($11,800 vs. $10,652) and having smaller class sizes. This shows that school-level factors matter even when poverty rates are nearly identical. In contrast, Southeastern Randolph Middle School sits at the 14th percentile with 38.5% average proficiency, about 44% at Ramseur, and Eastern Randolph at the 8th percentile.
The most concerning trend is at Eastern Randolph High School, where an alarming 47.2% chronic absenteeism rate—roughly double the state average—coincides with very low test proficiency, especially Math I at just 9% proficient. Yet the school still graduates 88.7% of students, nearly matching the state average, suggesting grades and graduation requirements may not align with state test performance. Math is a weak spot across the board, particularly at middle and high school levels. While every school in the zip code showed improvement in average proficiency over the last year, all remain below district and state norms, making Coleridge’s progress a hopeful example for the area.
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