Summary:
Zip code 28572 has just one school, Pink Hill Elementary, a PK–5 elementary school serving 437 students in a high-poverty rural setting where 99.31% of children qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. It belongs to Lenoir County Public Schools, a district ranked 163 out of 246 in North Carolina, and because no middle or high school exists in the zip code, Pink Hill is the only school option available to families through 5th grade.
Pink Hill Elementary has slipped from a 4-star, 71st-percentile state ranking in 2023–24 to a 2-star, 43rd-percentile ranking in 2025–26. The biggest red flag is a single cohort's math collapse: the group that scored an exceptional 87.5% proficient in 3rd grade math in 2024–25 scored just 40.3% proficient in 4th grade math in 2025–26—a 47.2-point drop, compared with the state's relatively flat movement. That decline pulled overall math proficiency down to 53.2%, below both the district (57.8%) and state (63.6%). Reading remains comparatively stable, though 3rd and 4th grade reading now trail the state by roughly 5–7 points while 5th grade reading (56.4%) exceeds the district and state averages.
Bright spots deserve attention too. Fifth-grade science jumped nearly 12 points to 72.7% proficiency in 2025–26, above the state's 67.7% and essentially even with the district's 72.9%. Reading in 2024–25 was above the state in every grade tested, showing that strong literacy instruction is possible in this school. Chronic absenteeism affects 24.7% of students—roughly one in four—and is a serious obstacle that families and staff must contend with alongside the near-universal poverty rate. In short, parents should know that Pink Hill Elementary is a school with clear strengths in upper-elementary science and 5th grade reading, but the dramatic math drop for the current 4th grade cohort and the steady fall in its state ranking are trends that deserve close attention.
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