The top reported proficiency rate is 85% in Math. The lowest is 78% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Ep Pearce Elementary
EP Pearce Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in a mid-sized Piedmont city where a major growth cycle is reshaping both housing and schools. The school sits in Greensboro, which is undergoing sustained residential expansion anchored by new subdivisions, downtown redevelopment, and mixed-income housing projects. The broader regional backdrop includes a diverse economy centered on health care, higher education, apparel, semiconductors, and logistics, with major employers like Cone Health, Honda Aircraft Company, VF Corporation, and the area universities all within the metro.
The school enrolls a moderate-sized student body with a student composition that tilts white and relatively affluent. About a quarter of the enrollment qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, while the majority of students are white, with Asian, Black, and Hispanic students each representing smaller shares. The student body is largely concentrated in the upper elementary grades, particularly in fifth grade. No data on special education enrollment or English learner status was available to characterize student support populations.
On the most recent state testing, the school performed solidly on math and science, with results well above half of all students achieving proficiency in each subject. English language arts results, while still a strength, trailed math and science by a meaningful margin. Math proficiency stood stronger than ELA, and science results showed strength in the subset of students tested. Science assessment methods and scoring cut points changed year-to-year, so historical trend cannot be assessed. Math and ELA results align with grades tested in the district: all students in grades three through eight took those assessments at EP Pearce.
The school belongs to Guilford County Schools, a district in the middle of a profound building cycle. In 2022 voters approved a major bond referendum to address facility needs across more than half the district's schools, funding new construction, rebuilds, and full renovations. A companion sales tax that would have eased the property tax burden did not pass, placing more of the repayment cost on homeowners directly. Concurrently, the district adopted new math materials and pedagogy at its middle schools starting in 2021 through a partnership with UnboundEd, so that shift will touch students as they progress. The district also revised three policies in late 2023 to align with state legislation known as the Parents' Bill of Rights, removing gender and sexuality instruction from kindergarten through fourth grade, requiring parental consent for certain student activities, and mandating parental notification if a student requests a different name or pronouns at school.
Housing in the school's zip code is appreciating modestly. Median home values sit near the state benchmark with year-over-year gains in the low single digits. Rents have risen more steeply. The mortgage-to-income ratio is slightly above the national baseline, and rent as a percentage of household income runs in the low twenties, making rental more affordable relative to purchase in this market. The local unemployment rate stands near historical norms for the region.
Greensboro itself is a majority auto-oriented city where most errands require a car, though pockets like College Hill and downtown hold higher walkability. The city has a compact downtown with civic anchors including the Central Library, museums, and performance venues, plus four colleges within or adjacent to the urban core. Public transit runs through the Greensboro Transit Agency and connects to Amtrak intercity rail downtown. The city has been aggressively annexing and permitting residential development to add housing units by 2030, with large subdivisions like Johnson Farms and VennTerra under way alongside affordable housing projects backed by federal tax credits.
The school's positioning relative to other Guilford County Schools elementary buildings could not be fully assessed because comparison data on proficiency by individual school was not available. Testing data for this school is fresh and the proficiency numbers in math and science are well above half; ELA results are lower but still substantial. For a family looking at early elementary grades in a growing suburb with steady housing appreciation and a straightforward curriculum approach, the school offers a routine neighborhood setting tied to a district managing a major facilities overhaul.
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