Summary:
Zip code 28043 contains 6 schools in Rutherford County Schools, including 3 elementary schools serving PK-5, 1 middle school for grades 6-8, and 2 high schools for grades 9-12, with a total enrollment of roughly 3,056 students and near-universal economic need as reflected in free/reduced lunch rates above 95%.
Academic outcomes vary sharply even under this shared economic pressure. Harris Elementary School is the clear standout at the 80th percentile statewide, with the lowest chronic absenteeism (21.5%), the lowest student-teacher ratio (16.1), and the lowest per-pupil spending ($9,551) in the group—yet it posts the highest elementary test scores, including 91.1% proficiency in 3rd grade math. In stark contrast, Forest City-Dunbar Elementary School spends the most per student ($12,235) but has collapsed from the 82nd percentile in 2023-24 to the 23rd percentile in 2025-26, with 4th grade math proficiency dropping from 91.4% to 45.6%. CHASE High School outperforms both district and state averages in all four EOC subjects despite a staggering 66.0% chronic absenteeism rate, while East Rutherford High School continues to decline to the 26th percentile, with Math I proficiency of just 21.3%—less than half the state average—even though it graduates 94.7% of its students.
Several patterns are worth noting for families. CHASE Middle School feeds into the successful CHASE High pattern, ranking at the 56th percentile and beating the district in six of seven tested areas, though 8th grade math remains a consistent weak spot at 38.8% proficiency versus the state's 53.0%. Forrest W. Hunt Elementary School sits in the middle of the pack, with 27.0% chronic absenteeism and moderate performance. The clearest takeaway is that high poverty does not predict low performance; rather, school-level practices matter greatly. The most urgent challenge across this ZIP code is chronic absenteeism, which exceeds the state rate of 24.2% at every school except Harris Elementary, and addressing it—especially at CHASE High and CHASE Middle—represents the greatest opportunity for improvement.
Thank you for your feedback!