Best Public Schools in Zip Code 28622

The 28622 zip code area is home to two schools - Freedom Trail Elementary and Cranberry Middle, both part of the Avery County Schools district. While the schools share similarities in their high-poverty student populations and resource levels, their academic performance varies significantly.

Cranberry Middle School stands out as the higher-performing school, consistently ranking in the top 25-30% of North Carolina middle schools and outperforming the district and state averages on key test score metrics, particularly in 6th grade math and reading. In contrast, Freedom Trail Elementary had strong performance in the 2023-2024 school year, but saw a decline in its rating the following year.

Both schools face the challenge of serving high-poverty student populations, as evidenced by their very high free/reduced lunch rates. However, the similar per-student spending and student-teacher ratios between the two schools suggest that factors beyond just funding and staffing levels may be driving the performance differences. The standout performance of Cranberry Middle and the fluctuating results at Freedom Trail Elementary are the key insights that emerge from the data.