The top reported proficiency rate is 80% in Math. The lowest is 64% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Union Elementary
Union Elementary serves the earliest grades, pre-kindergarten through second grade, in Clinton, the county seat of Sampson County. The school sits on a rural highway outside the downtown core and enrolls a predominantly Hispanic student body from a working agricultural and small-city community undergoing active residential growth.
The enrollment is split fairly evenly across the grades, with the largest concentration in kindergarten and first grade. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is roughly three-fifths Hispanic, one-fifth Black, and one-sixth white, with a small number of students from other groups. The school does not report separate special education or English learner counts in the available data.
State testing data comes from the grades three through eight cohort, drawn from students who passed through Union at the earliest grades and were tested at higher grades. In math, a substantial share of students met proficiency standards. In English language arts, the proficiency rate was notably lower. These results are from testing done in the school year ending in 2019, and the state changed its math cut score between that year and now, so trend comparisons are not straightforward. No more recent testing data is available in the public record.
Union's math proficiency places it well above the midpoint among the county's school districts in overall proficiency across tested grades and subjects. This is a meaningful position and suggests the school's instructional foundation in early math is solid.
The gap between math and reading proficiency is visible in the data. Parents may want to ask the school directly about its approach to early literacy instruction, the level of support for students who are not yet meeting standards, and whether there are targeted interventions in place. Because the school serves only the earliest grades, there is no graduation rate or chronic absenteeism data to report.
Clinton itself is a small regional hub with a historic downtown anchored by a Court Square, surrounded by rural farmland and agricultural business. The area is in a growth phase, with new residential subdivisions under development and approval to accommodate population increases. Major employers include Sampson Regional Medical Center, county government and schools, Sampson Community College, manufacturing and industrial operations, and agriculture-related business. Housing values are modest relative to state and national benchmarks, and rent-to-income ratios are manageable. The city maintains parks, a public library, and a rural transit system.
At the district level, Sampson County Schools has launched a Community Schools model in four schools in the Lakewood area, each with a full-time coordinator and family resource centers, though Union is not one of those schools. Following a 2024 property revaluation, the county moved to a four-year reappraisal cycle, which will affect future tax bills for homeowners. The district website and recent public information do not indicate major new curriculum rollouts or program expansions affecting the early grades broadly.
Union Elementary is a small, neighborhood school serving a high-poverty community in a growing rural county. Its math foundation is sound. Early literacy performance lags and merits direct conversation with school staff about how the school identifies and supports students who need additional help before they reach the upper elementary grades.
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