The top reported proficiency rate is 50% in Science. The lowest is 33% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Brookside Elementary
Brookside Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Gastonia, a fast-growing satellite city of the Charlotte metro area that has been investing heavily in revitalization around downtown and the new FUSE District. The school sits in a neighborhood where virtually all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the immediate community.
The school's enrollment is balanced across its grade band, with about a fifth of students in each grade from kindergarten through fifth. Racially and ethnically, the student body is diverse: roughly a third identify as White, a significant share as Black, and a meaningful share as Hispanic, with smaller numbers of students from Asian, Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native backgrounds, and students identifying as two or more races.
On state end-of-grade tests in math, English language arts, and science, proficiency rates were reported for grades three through five combined. In math, slightly more than a third of tested students met the proficiency threshold. English language arts results were lower, with roughly a third meeting proficiency. Science results were notably higher, with about half of tested students meeting proficiency, though this assessment underwent a name and cut-score change from the prior system, so direct comparison to prior years is not possible. The math and ELA results place Brookside below the typical performance band for elementary schools serving similar populations.
No data was available on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staff composition, attendance rates, or the count of students receiving special education or English learner services, so understanding those dimensions of school functioning requires direct conversation with the school. Similarly, state testing data only captures grades three through five; the school's work with younger students in kindergarten through grade two falls outside state accountability measures.
The district serving Brookside, Gaston County Schools, is navigating a significant structural budget crisis. The district eliminated many school-based and central office positions for the 2025-2026 school year and is slated to reduce the state-allotted teaching positions further for 2026-2027, with substantial cuts to support staff. A public hearing was held in June 2026 on consolidating schools in some parts of the county, though Brookside's Gastonia location is not among the schools under review for closure. Still, the budget pressure will likely mean fewer staff per school and larger class loads across the district going forward.
On the positive side, Gastonia itself is one of the fastest-growing areas of the county, with new residential development continuing along its edges. The district has also delivered new middle school facilities through bond funding, including a newly rebuilt Grier Middle School in Gastonia that opened in August 2025. The school district has maintained an early school-year calendar start since 2022, allowing students to complete fall-semester exams before winter break.
Brookside is a regular public elementary school with no charter or magnet designation. Housing in the Brookside zip code is modestly priced relative to the state and national benchmarks, and rental costs are similarly accessible, making the neighborhood economically stable for families working locally or commuting to Charlotte. A parent evaluating Brookside should prioritize a direct visit and conversation with school leadership about class sizes, staffing stability, intervention supports for students below proficiency, and the school's approach to the early literacy and math foundations that feed the later grades' test performance.
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