High Schools in Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools

Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools operates four high schools in Elizabeth City, North Carolina — Northeastern High, Pasquotank County High, Elizabeth City Pasquotank Early College, and the alternative H L Trigg Community (grades 6–12) — serving about 1,461 students in a district ranked 125th of 246 statewide with a three-star rating. That mid-pack average, however, hides enormous gaps between schools, from a top-five state performer to schools near the bottom of North Carolina's rankings.

Elizabeth City Pasquotank Early College is the district's standout, ranked #3 of 662 high schools with five stars and 100% proficiency in Biology, English II, and Math I — remarkable given that nearly all of its 115 students qualify as low-income. By contrast, Northeastern High has become the district's strongest traditional high school, jumping from the 15th to the 53rd percentile in one year and improving Biology proficiency from 49% to 76.6%. Pasquotank County High trails further behind at 457th and posts weaker proficiency, including just 26.9% in Math I, though it did improve significantly in English II and Biology. At the other extreme, H L Trigg Community serves only 35 students as an alternative school, with no recent state ranking or test data, a 50% chronic absenteeism rate, and roughly $30,282 in per-student spending — triple that of the larger high schools.

The biggest academic weakness districtwide is Math I, where Northeastern High (15.8%) and Pasquotank County High (26.9%) fall far below the state average of 42.1%, while the Early College posts perfect scores. Chronic absenteeism runs above the state's 24.2% mark at every reported school, most severely at H L Trigg Community (50%) and Pasquotank County High (30.9%). All four schools are high-poverty, with free/reduced lunch rates between 91% and 99.5%, yet Northeastern High and Pasquotank County High still delivered some of the district's largest year-over-year learning gains. Families choosing among these schools will find an elite early-college option, a traditional high school with clear positive momentum in Northeastern High, and a H L Trigg Community alternative best understood as a specialized program rather than a direct academic comparison to the district's comprehensive schools.