The top reported proficiency rate is 72% in Science. The lowest is 60% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Union Elementary
Union Elementary is a small kindergarten-through-fifth-grade public school in Wingate, North Carolina, located in the Charlotte metropolitan area within Union County. The school serves roughly a few hundred students in a rural-suburban setting dominated by Wingate University, which sits at the heart of the town's character and economy.
The school draws almost entirely from economically disadvantaged families. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. The student body is racially and ethnically mixed, with roughly half white, a substantial share Hispanic, and smaller numbers of Black and multiracial students. No data was available on the specific counts of English learners or students receiving special education services.
In state testing during the 2024-25 school year, Union Elementary showed mixed results across the subjects tested in grades three through five. In mathematics, about two-thirds of students achieved proficiency. Science results were slightly higher. Reading and language arts showed lower performance, with about three-fifths of students meeting the state's proficiency threshold. These are not strong numbers, and a parent should look into further detail with the school about the strategies in place to improve literacy outcomes and whether the recent whole-grade math tutoring program the district has rolled out districtwide affects students here.
The school is situated within Union County Public Schools, which has been pursuing modernization and growth simultaneously. Voters recently approved a bond to replace aging buildings, and East Elementary and Forest Hills High were slated to open as modern facilities in fall 2025. A second bond passed in late 2024 for further construction. More concretely for a school like Union Elementary, the district has implemented a notable academic intervention: since 2024, it has provided daily in-house math tutoring to every student in fourth and seventh grades using curriculum developed by the district itself, with outside evaluation showing gains in student outcomes. This is a genuine strength and a concrete differentiator for families in the district.
Wingate itself is a small college town experiencing active suburban growth tied to Charlotte's northward expansion. The community is compact and overlaps downtown and campus; civic life centers on Wingate University, which is the dominant employer. Housing stock is growing, with new single-family and townhome communities marketed to first-time buyers and right-sizers moving into the area. Median home values sit below both state and national benchmarks, making the area relatively affordable for the region, though mortgages remain substantial relative to median household income.
The district has also signaled cultural and curriculum priorities that some families will view as important. In 2024, the board considered changes to its instructional materials policy, including limits on classroom displays and alterations to book-challenge procedures. This is the kind of policy direction parents evaluating schools often weigh closely depending on their own views about curriculum control and cultural representation in schools.
Union Elementary appears to be a school serving a highly economically disadvantaged, racially mixed population in a growing suburb. Academic results in reading lag behind math and science, which warrants a close conversation with school leadership about literacy support. The broader district context shows active state investment in facilities and a demonstrated commitment to math tutoring that reaches the school's fourth-grade cohort.
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