Summary:
Zip code 28052 in Gastonia contains six PK-5 elementary schools—Pleasant Ridge Elementary, H H Beam Elementary, Woodhill Elementary, Lingerfeldt Elementary, Chapel Grove Elementary, and Edward D Sadler Junior Elementary School—all in Gaston County Schools, serving about 3,261 students where every school has a free/reduced lunch rate above 99%. As a group, they trail the district by roughly 16 percentage points and the state by about 22 points on EOG tests, with no school ranking above the 29th percentile statewide.
The strongest performers are Pleasant Ridge Elementary and Chapel Grove Elementary. Pleasant Ridge, though the largest at 887 students, posts the best state rank (29th percentile) and highest proficiency average (50.5%), including 4th-grade math at 63.9%, above the state average. Chapel Grove led the zip code in 5th-grade science at 63.5% in 2024-25, exceeding the state, and its 3rd-grade math of 59.3% beats the district average. Edward D Sadler Junior Elementary School is the operational standout: lowest chronic absenteeism (15.7%), smallest classes (10.8:1 student-teacher), and the biggest year-over-year proficiency gain (31.7% to 40.8%). H H Beam Elementary and Woodhill Elementary, both near the 2nd percentile statewide, are the most challenged, with average proficiency around 31%.
Because poverty is essentially identical across these schools, performance gaps point to attendance, staffing, and leadership rather than economics. Reading is the biggest concern—only about 30% of third-graders are proficient, well below the district rate of 46.4%—and chronic absenteeism affects about one in four students at most schools. There are bright spots: 5th-grade science averages 50.1%, and several grade-level results approach state benchmarks. Sadler's small classes, strong attendance, and rapid improvement make it a school to watch, while Pleasant Ridge and Chapel Grove remain the most consistent academic choices in the zip code.
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