The top reported proficiency rate is 74% in Math. The lowest is 65% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on South Topsail Elementary
South Topsail Elementary serves prekindergarten through fifth grade in Hampstead, a rapidly expanding residential community in Pender County that functions as a bedroom community between Wilmington and Jacksonville. The school sits within a growth corridor where new subdivisions and master-planned communities continue to build out, reshaping what was once a more rural area.
The school enrolls students across a full range of early elementary grades, with a student body that is predominantly white. About one in three students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The enrollment is moderate for an elementary school serving this grade band, with students distributed fairly evenly across kindergarten through fifth grade, and a smaller prekindergarten cohort.
On state end-of-grade tests administered in 2024-25, South Topsail's students showed solid proficiency in math, with about three-quarters of tested third through fifth graders meeting grade-level standards. In English language arts, about two-thirds of tested students achieved proficiency. Science proficiency, assessed in a smaller subset of grades, stood at about two-thirds. These results place the school in a reasonable position for its grade span and subject areas. State testing data applies only to grades three through five, so the school's work with younger students in prekindergarten through second grade is not captured in these figures.
The district has undertaken a significant pedagogical shift over the past two years. Beginning in 2022-23, Pender County Schools adopted a districtwide Science of Reading approach for prekindergarten through fifth grade, implementing new core literacy curricula including Heggerty, Fundations, and Geodes, with a two-year teacher professional learning commitment. In 2023-24 the district also adopted new math, English, and science curricula. For families enrolling children, this means South Topsail is teaching reading and core academics using an evidence-based instructional framework that differs from older traditional approaches, with teachers actively engaged in professional learning to implement these methods.
Hampstead itself is unincorporated and car-dependent, organized around the U.S. 17 commercial corridor with no distinct town center. The community has experienced rapid residential growth and is now described as the fastest growing area in Pender County. To manage this expansion, voters approved a school bond in November 2022 that is funding major capital projects including a new K-8 campus called J.H. Lea scheduled to open in fall 2027 in Hampstead, designed to be the state's largest K-8 facility east of I-95. For families considering the area, this expansion reflects the county's confidence in continued growth and signals increased school capacity within the next couple of years.
That growth comes with a fiscal trade-off. Pender County's property tax rate rose to help repay the 2022 bond, and the county is conducting its first property revaluation since 2008, effective January 2026, with countywide values projected to increase substantially given the county's population growth since 2020. Homebuyers and current residents should anticipate a meaningfully higher property tax bill as revaluation takes effect.
Housing in the zip code reflects the residential growth pattern, with median values in the range of moderate-to-upper-middle market, and rental stock available as well. The area's development is concentrated in new subdivisions and master-planned communities along U.S. 17 and secondary corridors, with the Hampstead Bypass under construction since 2022 and estimated for completion in 2030 to relieve Highway 17 congestion.
For families choosing South Topsail, the school offers a traditional elementary experience in a growing community with modern pedagogical approaches, set in a landscape where new housing, new school facilities, and rising property costs are all accelerating together.
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