The top reported proficiency rate is 57% in Math. The lowest is 25% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on B O Barnes Elementary
B O Barnes Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Wilson, a small city in eastern North Carolina about forty miles east of Raleigh. The school sits within Wilson County Schools, a district that covers Wilson and several smaller surrounding towns.
The school has a small enrollment. Its student body is predominantly Black, with a substantial Hispanic enrollment and very small numbers of white and multiracial students. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the neighborhood the school serves. Data on the school's special education population and English learner enrollment were not available.
On state End-of-Grade Tests administered in the spring of 2025, about half the students tested in grades three through five met proficiency in math. In English language arts, fewer than half met the standard. Science proficiency was markedly lower, at one quarter of students tested. The science assessment itself changed this year, so direct comparison to prior performance is not possible; the state also flagged a cut-score change in science for the 2024-25 school year, which can affect how proficiency is measured. These results suggest the school is working with students who arrive with significant academic needs and that reading and science instruction may warrant particular focus.
State testing data do not break down performance by student subgroup at the school level, so it is not possible to see whether achievement gaps exist within the building or how different groups of students are progressing. A parent interested in that picture may want to look into this further with the school directly.
The school serves a section of Wilson that is experiencing real demographic and economic change. Wilson itself is in a notable growth phase. Since 2020, more housing units have been built than in the prior eleven years, driven by major 2024 announcements of new life-science manufacturing facilities that are expected to bring hundreds of jobs to the city. The county completed its first property revaluation in over a decade in 2024, and while the tax rate decreased on paper, revalued properties mean the average homeowner's monthly property tax bill is likely to be higher. The district is making major capital investments, including a new school building for Frederick Douglass Elementary in nearby Elm City, financed through local borrowing, which adds to the cost of ownership in the area.
Within the district, B O Barnes shares a feature with all elementary schools in Wilson County Schools: it serves only grades kindergarten through five, so state assessments are limited to grades three through five. The district itself has been navigating facility changes, including the permanent closure of two schools in 2022 and a multi-year temporary housing situation for another elementary school. These are district-level management choices that do not directly bear on daily school operations but reflect the broader context families are entering.
Housing in the 27893 zip code, where the school is located, is more affordable than state or national benchmarks. Rental costs are moderate and the price-to-income ratio is well below the national average, making the area accessible for working families. The city's ongoing investment in downtown revitalization, manufacturing jobs, and new housing stock suggests this neighborhood is likely to see continued demographic shifts over the next several years. For families already in Wilson or considering moving there for employment or family reasons, B O Barnes is the assigned elementary school in that part of the city, and its small size and high-poverty student population are facts to understand about the peer environment and school resources that shape daily experience there.
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