Best Public Schools in High Point, NC

High Point, North Carolina has 27 schools — 14 elementary, 4 middle, 7 high, and 2 alternative — serving roughly 14,580 students, almost all within Guilford County Schools, a district ranking at the 39th percentile statewide. With the exception of Phoenix Academy, which operates under Phoenix Academy Inc and reports no lunch rate, and tiny Pruette SCALE Academy (70%), every campus reports a free/reduced-price lunch rate between 97% and 99.8% — a profoundly low-income community where outcomes vary widely.

Despite similar poverty, results differ sharply. Southwest Elementary is the clear star: a 5-star school in the 92nd percentile with 3rd-grade math at 83.6%, 5th-grade reading at 82.8%, and science at 91.0% — all far above state averages. Florence Elementary quietly beats state averages in every subject and ranks in the 70th percentile. At the high school level, Middle College at GTCC-High Point ranks in the 80th percentile with 72.7% Math I proficiency and the city's lowest chronic absenteeism at 10.7%. Penn-Griffin Schools posts excellent high-school results — 90.3% English II and 96.5% Math III — though its middle grades trail the state. On the other end, Oak Hill Elementary sits at the 3rd percentile with only 9.5% of 5th graders proficient in math, Fairview Elementary is at the 4th percentile, Northwood Elementary at the 9th, and Welborn Middle at the 10th percentile with 16.7% 8th-grade math proficiency.

The middle school years are the weakest link. No High Point middle school ranks above the 42nd percentile, and all trail the state in 8th-grade math. That feeds low Math I proficiency at traditional high schools, including High Point Central High at 23.9%, T Wingate Andrews High at 29.9%, and Southwest Guilford High at 22.4%, compared with the state average of 42.1%. Chronic absenteeism averages about 29.5% — above the state's 24.2% — but attendance alone does not explain outcomes. Encouragingly, graduation rates are strong: High Point Central High graduates 89.3%, T Wingate Andrews High 94.8%, and Southwest Guilford High 94.6%, all near or above the state rate. The district should study Southwest Elementary, Florence Elementary, and Middle College at GTCC-High Point and scale their practices to struggling campuses.