Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 28709

Zip code 28709 contains just one elementary school, Barnardsville Elementary, a small PK-4 public school in Barnardsville, NC, serving 125 students as part of Buncombe County Schools. This means the analysis focuses entirely on this single school, and given its small size, proficiency percentages can shift dramatically from year to year.

Barnardsville Elementary stands out because it serves a student body where 97.6% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch — an extremely high poverty rate — yet its 4th grade students recently posted exceptional test scores. In 2025-2026, 90.5% of 4th graders were proficient in math and 85.7% in reading, outpacing the state by roughly 29 and 28 points respectively. However, the same year’s 3rd grade scores were below district and state averages, particularly in reading where only 47.4% were proficient compared to 55.6% statewide. The previous year, the school outperformed both its district and the state in every grade and subject, showing that results can be uneven. The recent decline in its state ranking, from the 92nd percentile (5 stars) in 2023-2024 to the 68th percentile (3 stars) in 2025-2026, appears driven largely by the weaker 3rd grade performance. That said, the current 4th graders were likely the 3rd graders from the year before, and they improved dramatically as they moved up — suggesting either excellent 4th grade instruction or the natural variability of a very small cohort.

On a positive note, chronic absenteeism is relatively low at 17.8%, comfortably below the district’s 18.7% and well below the state’s 24.2%. The school also benefits from a small student-teacher ratio of 10.9:1 and higher-than-average per-student spending. For parents, the key takeaway is that Barnardsville Elementary is a high-poverty school with a strong track record of lifting students by 4th grade, but 3rd grade reading is an area that needs attention. With only 125 students across PK-4, individual cohorts can make scores swing, so recent ranking changes should be viewed with that context in mind.