Best Public Schools in Zip Code 28445

ZIP code 28445, primarily covering Holly Ridge and Hampstead in North Carolina, contains four public schools—three elementary schools and one high school—with no middle school, and is split between the Onslow County Schools and Pender County Schools districts.

This small collection of schools serves roughly 3,500 students, with Dixon High as the only high school, enrolling 1,085 students, while the three elementary schools each have between 760 and 857 students. Three of the four schools operate under Onslow County Schools, while Surf City Elementary belongs to Pender County Schools. Families should understand that attendance zones depend more on county boundaries than on the shared ZIP code. Because no middle school exists in 28445, students in grades 6-8 likely attend school outside the immediate ZIP code, creating a structural gap between the elementary and high school years.

The strongest elementary performers are Coastal Elementary and Surf City Elementary, both rated in the 82nd-83rd percentile statewide with average EOG proficiency scores near 72-73%. Coastal stands out for its consistency, earning 4 stars three years running, low chronic absenteeism of 13.1%, and the lowest student-teacher ratio in the ZIP at 14.4. Surf City is remarkable for achieving above-state-average results despite 99.65% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, demonstrating that poverty does not predict low performance. Meanwhile, Dixon Elementary has been declining, falling from the 78th statewide percentile in 2023-2024 to the 62nd in 2025-2026, with third and fourth grade math now below district and state averages, even though it shares similar poverty levels and the same district as the stronger Coastal Elementary. That gap suggests school-level factors such as instruction, leadership, and programming matter greatly.

Dixon High overall is a solid high school, with a 91.7% graduation rate and all four EOC subjects exceeding district and state averages. Its strongest subject is Math III at 79.8% proficiency; however, Math I proficiency is only 46.2%, indicating a challenging transition into high school math for many ninth graders. The school also has a chronic absenteeism rate of 25.4%, higher than the state average and far above the elementary schools in this area, which range from 13.1% to 20.1%. While Onslow County Schools ranks only in the 45th percentile statewide, two of its elementary schools in this ZIP rank in the top 20% of North Carolina schools, making clear that district-level ratings often fail to capture outstanding school-level performance.