The top reported proficiency rate is 87% in Math. The lowest is 80% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Kensington Elementary
Kensington Elementary is a mid-sized elementary school in Waxhaw, North Carolina, serving kindergarten through fifth grade and enrolling approximately several hundred students. The school is part of Union County Public Schools, a district positioned between growth and managed development, with a recent shift in school-board priorities toward facility modernization and careful planning of new capacity.
Academically, Kensington's test results show solid proficiency across the assessed grades and subjects. In math, the school's proficiency rate reflects strong performance, while English language arts proficiency sits somewhat below that level, indicating an area where families may want to understand more about how the school supports readers and writers in the upper elementary grades. Science proficiency is also strong. State assessment data from North Carolina's End-of-Grade Tests cover grades three through five at the school, so kindergarten and first and second grades are not measured by these standardized instruments. The student population is diverse by race and ethnicity, with a majority white enrollment and meaningful representation of Asian, Hispanic, and Black students. Only a modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, suggesting the school's attendance zone is generally higher-income.
The school is located on Kensington Drive in Waxhaw, a mixed residential-commercial Charlotte suburb that has become one of the region's faster-growing towns. Waxhaw retains a genuine downtown core along Main Street, with antique shops, restaurants, breweries, and community gathering spaces organized around a historic railroad and a restored pedestrian bridge, but newer residential subdivisions and schools sit on the town's suburban edges. Housing values in the Waxhaw zip code are well above both state and national benchmarks, and rents have risen modestly year over year. This housing market means the school draws from neighborhoods of substantial single-family homes built on formerly agricultural land.
Union County Public Schools is in a transition phase. Voters approved a bond in November 2022 focused on replacing aging facilities rather than accommodating growth, a signal of the district's maturation and shifting priorities. A second, larger bond passed in November 2024 for pre-construction work on a new Parkwood High and relocation of a middle school. The district has also invested in a distinctive whole-grade daily math tutoring program for all fourth and seventh graders, with outside evaluation suggesting it has improved outcomes. The district continues to navigate questions around curriculum and classroom displays as part of broader national debates, with families holding varied views on these choices. Kensington sits within this context of a district balancing growth management, modern facilities, and instructional innovation.
Comparison data across Union County's school districts was not available for this school, so readers cannot see how Kensington positions relative to other elementary schools in the county. Enrollment data for English learners and students in special education were not available, limiting a fuller picture of the full range of learners and supports. The school website was not provided, so prospective families may want to visit the school's own web presence or reach out directly to learn about specific programs, enrichment offerings, and the character of the instructional environment beyond what standardized testing captures.
See more original research from School Decision →