The top reported proficiency rate is 42% in Science. The lowest is 33% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Southeast Elementary
Southeast Elementary is a small public elementary school in Kinston serving pre-K through fifth grade. The school enrolls a student body that is predominantly Black, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Housing in the Kinston area is affordable relative to state and national benchmarks, with home values modest and rent accessible on lower incomes, though the community faces significant economic stress alongside recent growth in aerospace and manufacturing employment around the nearby NC Global TransPark.
The school's most recent state testing data, from spring 2025, shows proficiency rates that fall below midpoint performance. In English language arts, roughly two in five students tested at proficient levels or above. In mathematics, the rate was about one in three. Science testing was administered to a smaller subset, with proficiency slightly above the mathematics rate. These are areas where a parent may want to look into further with the school, including what support structures the school has in place and what trajectory the school is working toward.
Southeast Elementary's enrollment is small for its grade band, with the heaviest concentration in the pre-K and fifth-grade cohorts. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and operates within Lenoir County Public Schools. The district is currently investing in facility upgrades: a major new middle school is under construction in nearby La Grange, funded without local bond debt through a state capital grant, and the district received county funding for home repair loans to address aging housing stock in the broader area.
The broader Kinston context mixes a walkable, arts-oriented historic downtown core with car-dependent commercial corridors on the city's edges. Major employers include Spirit AeroSystems (aerostructures), the NC Global TransPark aviation hub, and healthcare systems. Downtown anchors include Pearson Park along the riverside and the Neuse Regional Library. Public transit is demand-response rather than fixed-route, which shapes how families access schools and employment outside the downtown core. The town has experienced long-term population decline in parts but is seeing new residential construction on its periphery, with median home prices rising modestly and new subdivisions with builders like Century Communities active.
At Southeast Elementary specifically, state assessment data was the only academic measure available for review. School-level data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing, or advanced course access were not provided, so a parent may want to request those details directly from the school. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report.
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