New Hanover County Schools School District

New Hanover County Schools serves 25,028 students across 42 schools in North Carolina. The district averages 6.8 out of 10 across its 41 ranked schools — a solid baseline that reflects a broad range of school types from elementary through high school. That average masks meaningful variation at the top: several schools score well above the district mean, giving families with options a real reason to dig into individual school data before deciding where to enroll.

Elementary performance is the district's clearest strength. The International School at Gregory leads all 42 schools with a 9.1 out of 10 — the highest score in the district. Carolina Beach Elementary and Castle Hayne Elementary each score 9.0, and Edwin A. Anderson Elementary follows at 8.8. Four of the district's five top-rated schools are at the elementary level, signaling that families with younger children have a deep and competitive set of choices here.

At the secondary level, SEA-Tech stands out as the district's top-rated high school, earning a 9.0 — matching the second-highest elementary scores in the district. Its presence in the top tier suggests the district sustains academic quality beyond the early grades, though the high school options at that performance level are narrower than what the elementary side offers.

With 25,028 enrolled students, New Hanover County Schools operates at a scale that supports varied programming without the anonymity of the largest urban districts. The concentration of top schools in the 9.0–9.1 range signals consistent quality among the district's strongest performers. Parents researching here should look closely at school-level scores — the 6.8 district average tells only part of the story. The gap between average and top performers gives families meaningful upside if they land in one of the district's highest-rated schools, particularly at the elementary level where that selection runs deepest.