Summary:
ZIP code 28355, located in the Sanford, NC area, contains just one school: Greenwood Elementary, a K-5 school serving 571 students in the Lee County Schools district. Greenwood Elementary stands out as a high-performing school despite serving a student population where 99.47% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. The school holds a 4-star state rating and is ranked 341st out of 1,492 North Carolina elementary schools, placing it in the 77th percentile for the 2025-2026 school year. This represents an improvement from the 68th percentile in 2024-2025 and the 72nd percentile in 2023-2024.
Academically, Greenwood Elementary shows particular strength in mathematics and science. In 2025-2026, 3rd-grade math proficiency reached 83.5%, compared to 67.5% for the district and 66.4% statewide. Fourth-grade math proficiency was 77.1%, and 5th-grade math reached 72.1%, both exceeding district and state averages. Science proficiency in 5th grade jumped dramatically from 57.3% in 2024-2025 to 80.2% in 2025-2026, far surpassing the state average of 67.7%. Reading results are more mixed: while 4th and 5th grade reading exceed state averages, 3rd-grade reading proficiency of 55.3% falls just below the state average of 55.6%, though it improved significantly from 44.1% the prior year.
Chronic absenteeism at Greenwood Elementary is 19.9%, which is better than both the district average of 21.4% and the state average of 24.2%. The school is notably one of the stronger performers within the Lee County Schools district, which ranks in the 39th percentile of North Carolina districts with a 2-star rating. Because ZIP code 28355 only contains this one elementary school, families with middle or high school students would need to look outside the ZIP code for secondary options. Overall, Greenwood Elementary demonstrates that strong academic achievement is possible even in high-poverty contexts, with particular excellence in math, science, and a positive upward trajectory in reading.
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