The top reported proficiency rate is 77% in Math. The lowest is 43% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Tanglewood Elementary
Tanglewood Elementary is a small public school in Lumberton serving preK through third grade. With enrollment spread across five grades, it is a neighborhood school in a low-income area; a very substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is racially diverse, with roughly equal representations of Black, White, and American Indian/Alaska Native students, alongside smaller populations of Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial children.
Academically, the school shows an uneven profile on the North Carolina End-of-Grade assessments given to third graders. In math, the school met proficiency for a majority of tested third graders. In English language arts, performance is notably lower, with less than half of third graders reaching proficiency. That gap between math and ELA is meaningful and worth understanding; a parent may want to discuss with the school what strategies are in place to strengthen early reading outcomes, particularly as structured literacy becomes the district standard.
Tanglewood is part of Public Schools of Robeson County, a district serving all four Robeson County schools. The district itself operates in a constrained resource environment. It ranks last in North Carolina for local per-student spending and lacks a significant tax base. In 2025, the district lost a substantial pool of federal pandemic-era funding that had been allocated for facility repairs, forcing it to divert local resources instead. Those constraints affect all schools in the system, including elementary schools. The district has, however, invested in Science of Reading-aligned curriculum at the elementary level, adopting structured literacy instruction through EL Education for K-5 with specialized training for teachers. That framework is in place at Tanglewood and represents a meaningful pedagogical commitment to early literacy.
Lumberton itself is a small city shaped by recent hurricane recovery and slow employment growth. The housing market is affordable relative to state and national benchmarks, with home values and rents below both comparisons. The city's economy centers on healthcare through UNC Health Southeastern, education through the school district and Robeson Community College, and I-95-driven retail and logistics. Car dependence is high; walkability is minimal outside a small downtown core along the Lumber River. Employment edged down between 2023 and 2024. New apartment construction, much of it tax-credit supported low-income housing, is adding to the housing stock. The trajectory is one of slow recovery rather than expansion.
Tanglewood's third-grade math results and the district's commitment to structured literacy suggest the school is working on foundational skills. The ELA proficiency gap warrants direct conversation with school leadership about reading support, intervention, and the transition into upper elementary. For families in Lumberton seeking an early-elementary option in a high-poverty, diverse setting with intentional focus on literacy curriculum, this is what the school offers. Broader context matters: the district's resource constraints and the city's modest economic footing shape the operating environment across all Robeson schools.
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