Summary:
Zip code 27521 contains a single public elementary school, Coats Elementary, which serves grades PK–5 and is part of Harnett County Schools in the town of Coats, NC, enrolling 633 students. This school stands out for its very high economic need — 96.68% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch — and its extremely low state ranking, having fallen to 1,435 out of 1,492 North Carolina elementary schools in 2025–2026, placing it in the 4th percentile with 0 stars.
Academically, Coats Elementary scores below both the district and state averages on nearly every EOG test in both 2024–2025 and 2025–2026. In the most recent year, 5th-grade science proficiency was 34.1% versus the district’s 58.0% and the state’s 67.7%, while 3rd-grade reading proficiency was just 28.3% compared to 51.5% for the district and 55.6% for the state. The school’s strongest subject, 3rd-grade math, still lagged about 20 points behind the district and 22 points behind the state. The state ranking has declined sharply over two years, from the 11th percentile in 2023–2024 (1 star) to the 4th percentile in 2025–2026 (0 stars), signaling that the school is performing well below its own district’s typical results.
Despite these struggles, there are a few notable positives. Chronic absenteeism at Coats Elementary was 23.1% in 2024–2025, which is lower than both the district rate of 26.9% and the state rate of 24.2%, suggesting decent attendance given the poverty level. Some scores improved year over year, including 3rd-grade math (42.7% to 44.4%) and 5th-grade reading (32.7% to 36.3%), but 3rd-grade reading dropped sharply from 33.3% to 28.3%, widening the gap with the district. Math is generally stronger than reading, yet both remain far below expectations. Because this is the only elementary school in the zip code, its performance directly shapes the educational experience for the entire elementary-age population in the area, and parents should view these results as a call for close attention and support.
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