Best Elementary Schools in North Carolina

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Find the best North Carolina elementary schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish North Carolina test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the EOG test scores by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction. The most recent update was on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 1505)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
370502001999	161	Gardners Elementary	Public	K-5	5404 NC 42 Hwy E	Elm City	27822	Wilson County	Wilson County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 399-7920	242	16	15.3	98.8%	94 (38.8%)	53 (21.9%)	78 (32.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (7.0%)	$10,906			$1,587			$9,319	86.3	83.1	196	35
370297003026	162	Ballantyne Elementary	Public	K-5	15425 Scholastic Dr	Charlotte	28277	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 343-0413	989	56	17.8	26.7%	297 (30.0%)	161 (16.3%)	126 (12.7%)	353 (35.7%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	47 (4.8%)	$7,806			$370			$7,436	86.3	87.3	142	20
370333001368	163	Carolina Beach Elementary	Public	K-5	400 South 4th St	Carolina Beach	28428	New Hanover County	New Hanover County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 458-4340	432	29	14.8	33.3%	385 (89.1%)	9 (2.1%)	17 (3.9%)	5 (1.2%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	13 (3.0%)	$10,071			$617			$9,454	86.2	84	184	21
370045000151	164	Glen Arden Elementary	Public	PK, KG-4	50 Pinehurst Circle	Arden	28704	Buncombe County	Buncombe County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 654-1800	471	36	13	99.4%	333 (70.7%)	29 (6.2%)	62 (13.2%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.5%)	36 (7.6%)	$10,263			$832			$9,431	86.2	80.3	232	68
370472002652	165	Ballentine Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1651 North McLaurin Lane	Fuquay Varina	27526	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 557-1120	711	53	13.4	28.1%	455 (64.0%)	55 (7.7%)	152 (21.4%)	20 (2.8%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (3.8%)	$10,151			$476			$9,675	86.2	83.1	195	30
370045000169	166	West Buncombe Elementary	Public	K-4	175 Erwin Hills Road	Asheville	28806	Buncombe County	Buncombe County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 232-4282	578	43	13.5	99.5%	403 (69.7%)	14 (2.4%)	129 (22.3%)	7 (1.2%)	5 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (3.5%)	$11,223			$1,315			$9,908	86.1	75.7	307	141
370072002474	167	Scroggs Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	501 Kildaire Rd	Chapel Hill	27516	Orange County	Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 918-7165	397	33	11.9	28.2%	217 (54.7%)	58 (14.6%)	51 (12.8%)	39 (9.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (8.1%)	$13,218			$771			$12,446	86.1	87.9	135	32
370441001756	168	Shoals Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1800 Shoals Road	Pinnacle	27043	Stokes County	Surry County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 325-2518	252	20	12.6	98.8%	232 (92.1%)	1 (0.4%)	8 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (4.4%)	$10,986			$1,064			$9,923	85.7	89	121	47
370297001215	169	Eastover Elementary	Public	K-5	500 Cherokee Rd	Charlotte	28207	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 343-5505	357	24	14.8	31.4%	220 (61.6%)	92 (25.8%)	20 (5.6%)	6 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (5.3%)	$10,309			$835			$9,474	85.7	83.9	185	16
370072001962	170	McDougle Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	890 Old Fayetteville Rd	Chapel Hill	27516	Orange County	Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 969-2435	483	39	12.2	31.5%	277 (57.3%)	73 (15.1%)	80 (16.6%)	18 (3.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (7.0%)	$12,936			$505			$12,431	85.6	79.5	247	77

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for North Carolina

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for NC student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Homeless Students Gifted and Talented Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on EOG Mathematics, EOG Reading, EOG Science test scores released by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.
These rankings were last updated on September 4, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.