Best Public Schools in Zip Code 28327

Zip code 28327 covers the Carthage area of Moore County, North Carolina, and contains four schools within Moore County Schools spanning grades PK–12: Sandhills Farm Life Elementary (K–5), Carthage Elementary (PK–5), Crain's Creek Middle (6–8), and The Community Learning Center @ Pinckney (6–12).

Sandhills Farm Life Elementary is the strongest school here: it ranks in the 86th percentile of North Carolina elementary schools with 4 stars, has the ZIP's lowest poverty rate (27.7% free/reduced lunch) and lowest chronic absenteeism (11%), and beats both district and state averages in every tested subject. Carthage Elementary is a high-poverty success story: nearly all students qualify for free/reduced lunch, yet it jumped roughly 300 places in state rankings to the 77th percentile with 4 stars, including 85.2% 3rd-grade math proficiency. Crain's Creek Middle, also about 99% low-income, rebounded from the 46th to the 62nd percentile in one year, with reading and science now at or above state averages; math remains a weak spot. The Community Learning Center @ Pinckney is the high-need outlier: 77 students in an alternative program, test proficiency often in the single digits, chronic absenteeism at 74.4%, and a 4th-percentile ranking.

Chronic absenteeism is the clearest warning sign in this ZIP, ranging from 11% at Sandhills Farm Life Elementary to 74.4% at The Community Learning Center @ Pinckney and tracking closely with lower achievement. Spending per pupil does not predict outcomes: Sandhills Farm Life Elementary spends the least ($8,014 per pupil) and performs best, while The Community Learning Center @ Pinckney spends the most ($20,280) and has the weakest scores. The most striking comparison is 8th-grade science: 79.5% proficiency at Crain's Creek Middle versus 9.1% at The Community Learning Center @ Pinckney in the same district and grade. Moore County Schools ranks in the top quarter of North Carolina districts (63rd of 246), but schools in 28327 span an enormous range, so parents should weigh each school's own results.