The top reported proficiency rate is 64% in Science. The lowest is 41% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Long Creek Elementary
Long Creek Elementary is a regular public school in Huntersville, a suburban community north of Charlotte, serving kindergarten through fifth grade with an enrollment of about five hundred students. The school's student population is predominantly Black, with substantial representation of Hispanic students and smaller shares of Asian, White, and multiracial students. Nearly all students—over 99 percent—qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, making this a high-poverty school despite sitting in a growing, affluent suburban area.
Academic performance at Long Creek reflects a school where proficiency rates in reading and math run below typical benchmarks. On the most recent state testing for grades three through five, reading proficiency and math proficiency both sit in the low to mid-40 percent range, meaning fewer than half of tested students met grade-level standards in these core subjects. Science proficiency is notably stronger at roughly 63 percent, though science is tested at only a portion of elementary grades so the sample is smaller. No trend data is available to show whether these results are rising, falling, or stable. The school operates within Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, which recently adopted a new elementary language arts curriculum district-wide called EL Education, integrating reading, writing, discussion, and social-emotional learning in thematic units. This curriculum change shapes classroom experience across elementary CMS schools, though Long Creek's specific instructional practices beyond the adopted curriculum were not documented in available sources.
Huntersville itself is a fast-growing suburban town, formerly a mill community now characterized by master-planned residential subdivisions, a lakeside identity along Lake Norman, and a major mixed-use development called Birkdale Village that serves as a shopping and gathering hub. The area is family-oriented and car-dependent, built around Interstate 77 with limited walkable neighborhoods outside Birkdale. Housing values have remained relatively stable. Major employers include Duke Energy's nuclear station, Novant Health, Joe Gibbs Racing, and various manufacturing and distribution firms. A significant portion of residents commute into Charlotte for work. The town has approved a multimillion-dollar expansion of Birkdale Village that will add housing, retail, office space, and a hotel, signaling continued growth over the next few years.
The composition of Long Creek's enrollment—heavily Black and Hispanic, with extremely high rates of economic need—reflects the school's location in a neighborhood pocket with different demographics than Huntersville's overall character. A parent considering Long Creek should understand that this is a high-poverty school in a mixed-income town, serving students with substantial academic gaps in foundational literacy and numeracy. The district's recent curriculum adoption and ongoing bond-funded capital projects signal a commitment to improvement, but early academic results suggest the school is still working to bring students to grade level. A parent may want to look into the school's specific reading intervention programs, how the new EL Education curriculum is being implemented and supported, and what additional academic support is available for students below proficiency.
See more original research from School Decision →