Schools in Zip Code 28210

Zip code 28210 in Charlotte contains nine public schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools district — seven elementary schools, one standalone middle school, and one high school, with Collinswood Language Academy actually serving K-8 — enrolling about 8,000 students in an area of extreme contrasts. The top elementary schools rank within the top six percent of all North Carolina elementary schools, while the weakest school sits in the bottom five percent, and no middle or high school in the zip code reaches even the 50th percentile of its state ranking.

Beverly Woods Elementary is the strongest overall school, holding a 5-star, 95th-percentile state ranking with just an 18.9% free/reduced lunch rate, a 7.9% chronic absenteeism rate, and proficiency results well above district and state averages in every reported subject. Collinswood Language Academy is nearly as strong at the 94th percentile while serving a more economically diverse student body at 42.1% free/reduced lunch, demonstrating that high achievement is not limited to the area's wealthiest school. Smithfield Elementary is the clearest positive trend, climbing from the 62nd to the 80th percentile in two years and now exceeding district and state averages on all reported end-of-grade tests.

The rest of the zip code faces sizable challenges. Quail Hollow Middle is the biggest concern, ranked in the 32nd percentile with 46.2% chronic absenteeism and below-average scores in every subject. Starmount Academy of Excellence has sat in the bottom five percent of elementary schools for three straight years, with only 23.3% of third graders reading proficiently. Pinewood Elementary, Huntingtowne Farms Elementary, and Montclaire Elementary also sit in the bottom third of the state, with reading proficiency the most persistent weakness. Secondary results lag the elementary standouts, as South Mecklenburg High School ranks in the 45th percentile with an 81.7% graduation rate and roughly 40% proficiency in Math I. Montclaire has improved from the 8th to the 28th percentile, but the overall picture is a sharply divided zip code — two elite schools, one clearly rising, and several needing significant attention.