Summary:
ZIP code 28573 contains exactly one elementary school, Pollocksville Elementary, which serves grades PK through 5 in Pollocksville, North Carolina, as part of Jones County Schools.
Pollocksville Elementary is a very small school with just 120 students, and nearly all of them (97.5%) come from economically disadvantaged households qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Despite this high-poverty profile, the school consistently outperforms both its district and the state average in combined math and reading proficiency. In the most recent school year, its combined average was 66.1%, compared to 59.5% for the district and 59.9% for the state. The school holds a 3-star state rating, while its district is rated just 2 stars. With such small grade-level cohorts, however, proficiency rates can swing dramatically from year to year—for example, 4th grade math jumped from 66.7% to 83.3%, while 5th grade math fell from 71.4% to 50.0%. These shifts likely reflect the performance of just a few students rather than broad changes in instructional quality.
The school’s clearest weakness is science. Only 38.9% of 5th graders scored proficient on the science EOG in the latest year, compared to 67.7% statewide—a gap of nearly 29 points, and a similar shortfall existed the previous year. Chronic absenteeism affects 23.3% of students, which is slightly better than the district's 24.8% and the state's 24.2% rates. The school’s state ranking has drifted downward from the 70th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 52nd percentile in the latest year, even though its combined math/reading scores have stayed nearly flat, indicating that other schools may have improved faster. For parents, Pollocksville Elementary represents a school that is beating the odds in reading and math despite high poverty, but science achievement remains a significant area of concern.
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