Summary:
ZIP code 28478, covering the Willard area of North Carolina, is served by exactly one public school: Penderlea Elementary, which enrolls 468 students in grades pre-K through 8 and operates within Pender County Schools. Because there is only one school in this area, there are no within-ZIP comparisons to make; the most useful benchmarks are the district and the state. Penderlea is a very high-poverty school, with 99.36% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Academically, Penderlea shows a mixed but improving profile. In 2025–26, the school reached 60.5% proficiency in math, nearly matching the state average of 59.9%, and 72.0% in science, outperforming the state's 68.2%. Fifth-grade math (75.6%) and eighth-grade science (70.6%) were standout areas. Reading, however, is a serious weakness: overall reading proficiency was just 46.3%, nearly 10 points below district and state averages, and third-grade reading was especially low at 35.4%. The school has also climbed statewide from the 32nd percentile in 2023–24 to the 45th percentile in 2025–26, though its two-star rating has not yet reflected that progress.
Attendance is another concern, with 28.6% of students chronically absent compared to rates near 24% across the district and state. This elevated absenteeism likely contributes to the reading gaps. Still, the gains in math and science despite near-universal poverty point to effective instruction in those subjects. Penderlea Elementary's PK–8 structure means students spend many years together in one tight-knit school, but families have no other public school options within ZIP 28478. The clearest opportunity for improvement is early-literacy support, alongside efforts to boost attendance. The school is moving in the right direction, even though meaningful challenges remain.
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