Summary:
ZIP code 27527 is served by five public schools in Johnston County Public Schools — four PK-5 elementary schools and one 6-8 middle school, with no high school located in the area. The elementary schools are River Dell Elementary, Riverwood Elementary, Powhatan Elementary, and East Clayton Elementary, and the middle school is Riverwood Middle. Combined enrollment is roughly 3,791 students, and about 98-99 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, making this a high-poverty area where academic differences among schools carry extra weight.
Riverwood Elementary is the clear standout: five stars, 93rd percentile (111th of 1,492), and the highest proficiency scores in every elementary subject in the ZIP, including 90.6% in 5th grade science. Powhatan Elementary earns four stars in the 85th percentile with the area’s lowest chronic absenteeism rate (9.6%). River Dell Elementary is also solidly above average, earning four stars in the 78th percentile while enrolling the most students (981). East Clayton Elementary has climbed from the 28th to the 52nd percentile in three years but still trails district and state averages, especially in reading. Riverwood Middle, the sole middle school, has slipped from the 67th to the 55th percentile, and its 8th grade math proficiency is just 41.5% versus 53.0% statewide.
Across the five schools, chronic absenteeism is the clearest separator: the three top elementary schools average about 10.8% chronic absenteeism, while East Clayton Elementary (23.6%) and Riverwood Middle (23.5%) — the two lowest-rated schools — have more than double that rate. Because poverty is nearly universal, attendance and school-level practices appear to matter more than economic status. The bottom line: families have strong elementary options at Riverwood Elementary, Powhatan Elementary, and River Dell Elementary, while the concerns to watch are Riverwood Middle’s math slide and East Clayton Elementary’s encouraging but incomplete improvement.
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