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Best Public Schools in Zip Code 28052

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At a glance

Schools

6,640

Students

5-star school

Top rankedHighland School of Technology5^th of 662 North Carolina high schools

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Biggest riser

Pleasant Ridge Elementary up 101 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Webb Street School 8.2 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

5★

1★

0★

2 schools without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)

See the top-ranked North Carolina schools →

Summary:

Zip code 28052 (Gastonia, NC) contains 12 public schools serving roughly 6,640 students in pre-K through 12th grade — six elementary schools, two middle schools, two high schools, and two alternative schools — all operated by Gaston County Schools, a district that ranks 145th out of 246 in North Carolina. This is an area of profound concentrated poverty: ten of the 12 schools have 98% or more students receiving free/reduced-price lunch, and enrollment ranges from 163 students at Webb Street School to 1,165 at Hunter Huss High.

The standout is Highland School of Technology, ranked #5 out of 662 North Carolina high schools, with 100% proficiency on Biology, English II, and Math I EOC tests. It is a magnet school with a 34% free/reduced-price lunch rate — far below the other schools in the zip — so it should be compared with similar magnet programs rather than with neighborhood schools. Among traditional schools, Pleasant Ridge Elementary is the strongest, ranked 1,053 out of 1,492 and improving from 1,191st place two years ago. Hunter Huss High, the only traditional high school in the area, posts low EOC proficiency (27–36%) but a strong graduation rate of 89.8%, essentially matching the state average. Gaston Virtual Academy is another bright spot: despite having the lowest per-pupil spending in the zip ($5,154), it posted 75% proficiency on Math I and 66.7% on 8th-grade reading.

At the other end, H H Beam Elementary, Woodhill Elementary, and Lingerfeldt Elementary sit at the 2nd, 2nd, and 5th percentiles of the state elementary rankings, each with a 99%+ free/reduced-price lunch population and chronic absenteeism between 26% and 28%. Chronic absenteeism is the strongest warning sign in the zip, peaking at 36% at Hunter Huss High, 35.5% at Webb Street School, and 31.8% at Southwest Middle. York Chester Middle is the most urgent concern: its state rank fell from 582nd to 726th out of 778 middle schools in one year, while 7th-grade math proficiency dropped from 40.7% to 17.8%. Encouragingly, Pleasant Ridge Elementary and Edward D Sadler Junior Elementary School are trending upward, showing improvement is possible even in high-poverty neighborhoods.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				EOC Biology (2026)	EOC English II (2026)	EOC Math I (2026)	EOC Math III (2026)	EOG Mathematics (2026)						EOG Reading (2026)						EOG Science (2026)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients (2025)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	EOC Biology End of Course	EOC English II End of Course	EOC Math I End of Course	EOC Math III End of Course	EOG Mathematics 3rd Grade	EOG Mathematics 4th Grade	EOG Mathematics 5th Grade	EOG Mathematics 6th Grade	EOG Mathematics 7th Grade	EOG Mathematics 8th Grade	EOG Reading 3rd Grade	EOG Reading 4th Grade	EOG Reading 5th Grade	EOG Reading 6th Grade	EOG Reading 7th Grade	EOG Reading 8th Grade	EOG Science 5th Grade	EOG Science 8th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Chapel Grove Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	5201 Lewis Road	Gastonia	28052	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 836-9113	382	25	15.1	99.2%	201 (52.6%)	37 (9.7%)	112 (29.3%)	3 (0.8%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (7.3%)	23.2	1221^st of 1492 public elementary schools	18.2%		30.5	1082^nd of 1490 public elementary schools	27.4%	139					59.3	37.9	45.5				39.0	45.5	38.6				59.1		$10,242	$1,403	$8,840
Webb Street School	Public, Alternative	PK, KG-12	1623 N Webb Street	Gastonia	28052	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 864-9667	163	20	8.2	98.2%	80 (49.1%)	43 (26.4%)	28 (17.2%)	2 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (6.1%)								(n/a)																			$31,277	$3,221	$28,057
Hunter Huss High	Public	9-12	1518 Edgefield Avenue	Gastonia	28052	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 866-6610	1,165	62	18.9	99.7%	214 (18.4%)	488 (41.9%)	403 (34.6%)	3 (0.3%)	6 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	50 (4.3%)	12.8	593^rd of 662 public high schools	10.4%		15.1	560^th of 641 public high schools	12.6%	33	29.9	30.0	36.4	27.1															$9,702	$791	$8,910
Lingerfeldt Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1601 Madison Street	Gastonia	28052	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 866-6094	450	27	16.5	99.3%	49 (10.9%)	247 (54.9%)	119 (26.4%)	3 (0.7%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (6.4%)	10.5	1413^th of 1492 public elementary schools	5.3%		5.4	1468^th of 1490 public elementary schools	1.5%	55					32.0	22.7	52.5				22.7	22.7	37.7				54.1		$9,976	$1,609	$8,367
Pleasant Ridge Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1260 Floyd Lane	Gastonia	28052	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 866-6096	887	56	15.9	99.7%	150 (16.9%)	388 (43.7%)	282 (31.8%)	7 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	60 (6.8%)	32.1	1053^rd of 1492 public elementary schools	29.4%		26	1154^th of 1490 public elementary schools	22.6%	101					49.6	63.9	57.7				31.7	49.0	40.3				61.3		$8,924	$1,150	$7,774
H H Beam Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	200 Davis Park Road	Gastonia	28052	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 866-6618	591	39	15.0	99.5%	122 (20.6%)	174 (29.4%)	255 (43.1%)	3 (0.5%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	33 (5.6%)	4.9	1467^th of 1492 public elementary schools	1.7%		3.9	1476^th of 1490 public elementary schools	0.9%	9					39.3	30.9	31.8				25.6	25.8	28.4				36.4		$9,849	$1,567	$8,282
Southwest Middle	Public	6-8	1 Roadrunner Drive	Gastonia	28052	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 866-6290	832	54	15.3	99.6%	187 (22.5%)	280 (33.7%)	302 (36.3%)	5 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	57 (6.9%)	14.7	687^th of 778 public middle schools	11.7%		13.6	696^th of 773 public middle schools	10.0%	9								42.6	35.7	26.1				33.8	31.0	35.1		53.0	$8,802	$1,244	$7,559
Woodhill Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1027 Woodhill Drive	Gastonia	28052	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 866-6295	577	35	16.6	99.5%	47 (8.1%)	309 (53.6%)	184 (31.9%)	6 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	29 (5.0%)	6.9	1455^th of 1492 public elementary schools	2.5%		3.8	1479^th of 1490 public elementary schools	0.7%	24					34.6	45.8	23.0				25.9	36.1	21.3				32.0		$8,750	$1,400	$7,350
York Chester Middle	Public	6-8	601 S Clay Street	Gastonia	28052	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 836-9609	398	25	15.9	99.2%	72 (18.1%)	188 (47.2%)	121 (30.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (4.3%)	9.3	726^th of 778 public middle schools	6.7%		25.9	582^nd of 773 public middle schools	24.7%	144								26.4	17.8	33.3				29.8	25.6	33.6		49.6	$12,146	$3,225	$8,921
Highland School of Technology	Public, Magnet	9-12	1600 N Morris Street	Gastonia	28052	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(704) 810-8816	538	39	13.8	34.0%	327 (60.8%)	81 (15.1%)	75 (13.9%)	31 (5.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (4.3%)	95.2	5^th of 662 public high schools	99.2%		96.9	3^rd of 641 public high schools	99.5%	2	100.0	100.0	562.1	566.5															$10,033	$715	$9,318
Edward D Sadler Junior Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	3950 West Franklin Boulevard	Gastonia	28052	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 862-5895	374	35	10.8	99.2%	56 (15.0%)	157 (42.0%)	135 (36.1%)	5 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (5.6%)	14.8	1367^th of 1492 public elementary schools	8.4%		9.9	1423^rd of 1490 public elementary schools	4.5%	56					44.2	36.2	40.4				30.2	34.5	42.6				57.4		$9,464	$1,602	$7,862
Gaston Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Magnet, Alternative	K-12	2500 Sedgefield Drive	Gastonia	28052	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	Yes	Yes	No	(704) 836-9125	283	21	13.7	57.6%	152 (53.7%)	82 (29.0%)	28 (9.9%)	5 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (5.7%)								(n/a)	30.8	56.5	75.0	63.6		42.9	27.3	66.7	25.0	46.7		64.3	45.5	53.3	50.0	66.7	45.5	73.3	$5,154	$290	$4,864

Cities Near Zip Code 28052

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Gastonia	1.44 mi	25	365^th
Bessemer City	4.51 mi	5	453^rd
Kings Mountain	5.21 mi	7	134^th
Dallas	6.53 mi	7	223^rd
Lowell	8.16 mi	2	339^th

See the top NC North Carolina cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.