Best Public Schools in Troy, NC

Troy, North Carolina, is a small city in the 1-star Montgomery County Schools district (ranked in the bottom 21% of North Carolina) with 5 schools serving 1,721 students: two elementary schools and three high schools, and notably no standalone middle school. The grade configuration is unusual — Troy Elementary serves PK–2, Page Street Elementary serves 3–5, Montgomery Learning Academy serves grades 6–12, and Montgomery Central High and Montgomery County Early College serve grades 9–12.

The clear standout is Montgomery County Early College, a 5-star high school in the 90th percentile statewide that posts EOC proficiency far above state averages (97.5% in Math I and 100% in Math III vs. state rates of 42.1% and 68.9%) despite nearly all (98.58%) of its students qualifying for free/reduced lunch. At the opposite extreme, Montgomery Learning Academy ranks in the bottom 3% statewide, has a severe 50% chronic absenteeism rate, and shows single-digit proficiency in key subjects — even though it has the lowest student-teacher ratio (7.7:1) and highest per-pupil spending ($21,924) in Troy. In between, Montgomery Central High, the largest school at 846 students, struggles most with math (16.8% Math I proficiency) but improved in every tested subject this year.

Every Troy school is almost universally low-income, yet outcomes differ enormously — evidence that poverty does not automatically dictate achievement. Chronic absenteeism tracks performance closely: Montgomery County Early College's 12.4% rate accompanies elite results, while Montgomery Learning Academy's 50% rate accompanies the lowest scores. There are encouraging signs: Page Street Elementary's third-grade reading proficiency jumped from 31.9% to 59.0%, now above the state average, while Troy Elementary's 31.3% chronic absenteeism in grades PK–2 is a risk worth watching. Despite low test scores, graduation rates at Montgomery Central High (92.4%) and Montgomery Learning Academy (93.9%) both exceed the state rate of 88.8%, revealing a disconnect between test proficiency and earning a diploma. Closing the gaps between these schools is the district's central challenge.