Best Public Schools in Zip Code 27332

ZIP code 27332 contains eight schools serving roughly 5,323 students from pre-K through grade 12, including traditional public schools, charter schools, and a small remote academy spread across four district systems: Lee County Schools, Harnett County Schools, the Ascend Leadership Academy: Lee County charter district, and the Rising Leaders Academy charter district. The schools span elementary, middle, and high school grades and vary so widely in governance and performance that the ZIP code functions as a microcosm of educational inequality in North Carolina.

The clear academic leader is Ascend Leadership Academy: Lee County, a charter high school ranking in the 69th percentile statewide with proficiency rates well above state averages in Biology, English II, and Math III, a 92.4% graduation rate, and chronic absenteeism of just 16.6%. Its results contrast sharply with Southern Lee High School, the large traditional high school in the same ZIP code, which ranks in the 21st percentile and posts English II proficiency roughly half of Ascend's rate. Among elementary schools, Benhaven Elementary is the strongest traditional option, exceeding state math averages and logging the lowest chronic absenteeism in the area at 13.7%, while SanLee Middle School stands out among middle schools by beating state averages in most subjects despite a 99.6% free-and-reduced-lunch rate.

By contrast, Rising Leaders Academy, also a charter school, ranks in the 8th percentile with proficiency rates far below state averages, a 0-star rating, and chronic absenteeism of 28.8% — proof that charter status alone does not ensure quality. The Ascend Leadership Remote Academy illustrates the challenges of remote learning with 40.4% chronic absenteeism and just 15.4% Math I proficiency, though its data comes from only 27 students. One consistent weakness across the ZIP code is Math I, which trails the state average at nearly every school offering it. Across all schools here, the strongest performers tend to share lower chronic absenteeism, more favorable student-teacher ratios, and more effective district leadership.