Schools in Zip Code 28164

ZIP code 28164 (Stanley, NC) is served by four schools enrolling 2,140 students: two elementary schools, one middle school, and one alternative/charter school, with no traditional high school in the attendance area. The traditional public pipeline runs from Springfield Primary (PK–2) to Kiser Elementary (3–5) to Stanley Middle (6–8), all part of Gaston County Schools, while Community Charter School operates as its own district and serves K–11.

Stanley Middle is the clear academic standout, ranking in the 68th percentile statewide and beating state averages in 6th-grade math (73.9% vs. 59.2%), 8th-grade math (68.6% vs. 53.0%), and 8th-grade science (76.7% vs. 68.6%) even though 99.5% of its students qualify for free/reduced-price lunch. Kiser Elementary, by contrast, ranks in the 29th percentile, though every tested subject improved from 2024–25 to 2025–26. Community Charter School stands out for upper-grade reading—70% to 71% proficiency in grades 7 and 8—and posted dramatic one-year gains in science and several EOC exams, though English II and Biology still trail state averages. Springfield Primary has no test data since it ends at grade 2, but it has the ZIP's highest chronic absenteeism (26.3%) and highest per-pupil spending ($10,230).

The area's biggest limitation is the lack of a 12th-grade option: Community Charter School stops at grade 11, so families must leave 28164 for senior year. Poverty is nearly universal across the traditional schools—all three report free/reduced lunch rates above 99%—yet outcomes diverge sharply, with Stanley Middle far outpacing its district's 41st-percentile ranking. Reading is the weakest link: fewer than half of Kiser Elementary students are proficient in reading at any tested grade, and 7th-grade reading at Stanley Middle fell to 47.9%, below the state average. Spending also varies widely, from $8,317 per student at Stanley Middle to $10,230 at Springfield Primary, making the highest-performing school the lowest-funded one.