Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 28458

In zip code 28458, there is exactly one public elementary-level school: Rose Hill-Magnolia Elementary. Although it is classified as an elementary school, it actually serves students in pre-K through 8th grade, functioning as a combined elementary and middle school with a large enrollment of 1,118 students. The school is part of Duplin County Schools, a district ranked in the bottom fifth of North Carolina districts. Nearly every student at Rose Hill-Magnolia—99.73%—qualifies for free or reduced lunch, placing the school in an extremely high-poverty context.

Academically, Rose Hill-Magnolia performs far below both its district and the state. The school has received 0 stars in every reported ranking year and sits in the bottom 2–6% of North Carolina schools. In 2025-2026, the school’s average EOG proficiency rate was just 29.9%, compared to 41.6% for the district and 59.4% statewide. The gaps are especially large in 5th grade, where only 17.6% of students were proficient in math and 13.4% in reading, versus state averages near 63% and 55%. Science proficiency is also very low, with 5th grade at 22.0% and 8th grade at 20.0%. There are a few bright spots, most notably 7th grade math, where 44.1% of students exceeded the district average of 40.8%, and 7th grade reading, which improved from 21.8% to 37.8% year-over-year. These gains, however, do not offset the overall pattern of severe underperformance.

Chronic absenteeism at Rose Hill-Magnolia is 20.9%—better than the state average of 24.2% but slightly worse than the district’s 18.9%. The school’s student-to-teacher ratio is 17.7:1, and per-pupil spending is $8,559, based on 2018-2019 data. While the school’s overall test scores stayed essentially flat between 2024-2025 and 2025-2026, its statewide percentile rank actually dropped from the 6th to the 2nd percentile, meaning other schools are improving faster. Since there are no other public elementary schools in this zip code, parents in the area have only this single PK-8 option. Rose Hill-Magnolia faces serious challenges rooted in poverty and limited resources, and its most urgent needs are clearly in 5th grade academics and science instruction across grades 5 and 8.