Summary:
Morgan Elementary is the only elementary school serving zip code 28071 in Gold Hill, NC — a PK–5 school with 275 students in the Rowan-Salisbury Schools district — so instead of comparing local schools against one another, the most useful picture comes from how this school stacks up versus the district and state. That picture is one of steady, significant improvement. Morgan Elementary jumped from the 15th percentile statewide in 2023–24 to the 49th percentile in 2025–26, improving from a 1-star to a 2-star rating, and it did so while serving a student body where 98.91% qualify for free or reduced lunch.
The school's most encouraging results appear in the early grades. In 2025–26, 3rd graders at Morgan Elementary posted 71.1% proficiency in math and 64.4% in reading, both above North Carolina's averages, and 5th graders also exceeded the state in reading (58.8% vs. 55.3%) and science (70.6% vs. 67.7%). Morgan outperformed its district in every EOG subject and grade during that testing year, often by substantial margins — such as 58.8% versus 40.4% in 5th-grade reading. The district ranks in the bottom 20% of North Carolina districts, which makes Morgan Elementary a clear bright spot within Rowan-Salisbury Schools.
The school's biggest challenge is sustaining momentum into upper elementary. In 2025–26, Morgan Elementary trailed state averages in 4th-grade math (46.7% vs. 61.4%), 5th-grade math (50.0% vs. 62.9%), and 4th-grade reading (44.4% vs. 57.7%). Overall, average proficiency rose from roughly 46% to about 58% in a single year, aligning with the school's jump from the 26th to the 49th percentile. Given its very high poverty rate, chronic absenteeism at 26.1% (better than the district's 34.2%), and a near-median statewide ranking, Morgan Elementary offers a compelling example of a high-poverty school that is moving in the right direction.
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