Summary:
ZIP code 28103 contains four public schools serving grades PK-12 with about 2,324 students in the Marshville area of Union County, all part of Union County Public Schools, a district ranked 43rd of 246 in North Carolina with a 4-star rating. The schools are Forest Hills High (grades 9-12), East Union Middle (grades 6-8), Marshville Elementary (grades PK-5), and New Salem Elementary (grades K-5). Three of the four schools have more than 98% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, while New Salem is much lower at about 38%, and academic performance varies widely across the four.
New Salem Elementary is the strongest performer, ranking in the 81st percentile of North Carolina elementary schools with a 4-star rating and exceeding the state average in every tested grade and subject in 2025-2026. It also posts the lowest chronic absenteeism rate in the ZIP at 10.9%. Marshville Elementary is the most improved school, jumping from the 50th to the 72nd percentile in a single year and rising from a 3-star to a 4-star rating. That gain is especially notable because Marshville has a 98% poverty rate; 3rd grade reading alone climbed by more than 25 percentage points.
The greater challenges sit at the secondary level. Forest Hills High ranks in the 24th percentile of North Carolina high schools with a 1-star rating and trails district and state averages on every end-of-course test; its 26.3% chronic absenteeism rate is the highest in the ZIP. Even so, it graduates 87.6% of students, close to the state rate of 88.8%. East Union Middle sits in the 39th percentile: math proficiency is above the state average in grades 6 through 8, but reading is dramatically lower, with only 31.1% of 6th graders proficient versus 54.8% statewide. Overall, the elementary schools in ZIP 28103 far outperform the middle and high schools relative to state peers, and reading stands out as the most urgent priority.
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