Schools · Carolina Beach

Carolina Beach, NC schools

Carolina Beach’s public schools score well above North Carolina’s averages: 53% of students are proficient in reading against 47.2% statewide, and 88% of high schoolers graduate on time against 87.7%. Kids attend Carolina Beach Elementary through grade 5, then one of 8 middle schools and one of 6 high schools.

Grades, test scores, graduation, spending and every school, from U.S. Department of Education data.

BSchool Grade #60Best schools in NC (of 252)#133Highest graduation rate in NC (of 284)

TownTapestry School GradeNew

Carolina Beach’s School Grade: B

The public schools Carolina Beach’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, outperform 59% of North Carolina’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they sit near the middle.

B+Test scoresB-Graduation

North Carolina school districts we grade (318)Better than 59%

Lower resultsHigher results

North Carolina towns with similar household incomes (214)Better than 62%

High confidence. Built on 12,667 tested students and a graduating class of 2,065; ordinary year-to-year swings are unlikely to change the grade.

How the School Grade works

Results, not inputs. Math and reading proficiency on North Carolina’s state tests, each against the state average, plus the four-year graduation rate. Spending and class size are shown below but don’t count toward the grade. Tests: 2020–21; graduation: class of 2020.
The whole path. A town’s grade follows its kids: every district that serves it, weighted by the number of students tested in each. Tests count 60% and graduation 40%.
Graded within the state. Each state writes its own tests, so districts are lined up against the rest of North Carolina only. A+ top 5%A next 10%A- next 10%B B+ to B−, next 30%C C+ to C−, next 30%D D and D−, bottom 15%
Individual schools are graded the same way on their own test results, against every public school in North Carolina with 25+ students. Private schools aren’t graded: they don’t take the state tests.
What a grade can’t tell you. Test results track family income closely, so a high grade partly reflects who lives in a town. That’s why we also compare towns with similar incomes. Visit, ask other parents, and read neighbor reviews. It’s our own summary of U.S. Department of Education data, not an official rating.

School path

Where Carolina Beach kids go to school

Grades K–5

A-Carolina Beach Elementary 383 students · Carolina Beach New Hanover County Schools

Grades 6–8

8 middle schoolsDepends on your address · see the list New Hanover County Schools

Grades 9–12

6 high schoolsDepends on your address · see the list New Hanover County Schools

Based on district boundaries from the U.S. Department of Education. Check with the district before you enroll.

Test scores · 2020–21

Well above the state in reading

Reading (grades K–12, New Hanover County)53%

State average 47.2%

Math (grades K–12, New Hanover County)48%

State average 41.9%

Graduation · class of 2020

88% graduate on time

Graduation rate

88%

NC: 87.7%

Graduating class

2,065

students

The share of students who started ninth grade together and earned a regular diploma within four years. #133 of 284 NC towns →

Districts

The district serving Carolina Beach

🏫

New Hanover County SchoolsGrades PK–12 · 42 schools · 24,791 students

$14,042 per studentNC $13,045B

Each district’s own page has its spending, test scores, enrollment and every school.

Within reach

Colleges near Carolina Beach

There’s no college in Carolina Beach, but 4 colleges are within 30 miles. The closest is University of North Carolina Wilmington in Wilmington, 12.7 miles away.

University of North Carolina WilmingtonUniversity or college · Public · Wilmington12.7 mi13,624 students

Miller-Motte College-WilmingtonUniversity or college · For-profit · Wilmington13.9 mi118 students

Cape Fear Community CollegeCommunity college · Public · Wilmington14 mi9,738 students

Brunswick Community CollegeCommunity college · Public · Bolivia18.9 mi972 students

Straight-line distance from the center of Carolina Beach. Degree-granting colleges with students on campus. Colleges marked › have their own page; the others are too small or don’t report enough to the Department of Education for one.

Every school