Forest City-Dunbar Elementary School vs Harris Elementary School

Forest City-Dunbar Elementary School and Harris Elementary School sit 5.3 miles apart in Forest City, North Carolina, and their overall ratings are nearly identical — 9.2 out of 10 versus 9.1 out of 10, a gap of 0.1 points. That near-tie looks different in state context: Forest City-Dunbar Elementary School ranks #42 of 2,648 schools in North Carolina while Harris Elementary School ranks #70 of 2,648, a 28-position spread that places both schools firmly in the top 3% of the state but gives Forest City-Dunbar a measurable edge in composite standing.

Academically, Harris Elementary School holds a narrow lead — a 9.3 out of 10 academic score versus 9.2 for Forest City-Dunbar Elementary School, a 0.1-point difference that is statistically close to noise. The clearer divergence is in growth: Forest City-Dunbar Elementary School scores 9.7 out of 10 on growth versus Harris Elementary School's 9.0 out of 10, a 0.7-point gap indicating that students at Forest City-Dunbar are advancing at a measurably faster rate relative to their starting points, regardless of absolute proficiency benchmarks.

Both schools serve a high-need population — free and reduced-price lunch eligibility is 99% at Forest City-Dunbar Elementary School and 99% at Harris Elementary School, meaning the student bodies face near-identical economic pressures. Enrollment stands at 487 at Forest City-Dunbar versus 440 at Harris, a difference of 47 students. The student-teacher ratio is 15.7-to-1 at Forest City-Dunbar and 15.2-to-1 at Harris, giving Harris a slight per-classroom advantage in adult attention per child, though both figures are within a reasonable range for public elementary schools.

Both schools cover the same grade span — prekindergarten through fifth grade — so families with children across the early elementary years will find equivalent entry and exit points at either campus. Neither school has differentiated programming data in this comparison, making the growth score differential and state rank the most actionable distinguishing signals for parents choosing between two otherwise closely matched schools.