Cross Creek Early College

Cross Creek Early College is a small, public early college high school in Fayetteville, NC, serving 253 students in grades 9–12 as part of Cumberland County Schools. It is consistently one of the top-performing high schools in North Carolina, having ranked in the 92nd percentile or higher in 8 of its last 10 rated school years, and it currently shares a campus with Cumberland International Early College, another highly ranked choice school.

Cross Creek's academic results far outpace both the district and most nearby high schools. On 2025–2026 End-of-Course exams, 96.8% of students scored proficient in Biology, 96.1% in Math I, and 88.2% in English II — compared with district averages of roughly 45–63% and state averages around 42–65%. The contrast with nearby traditional high schools is even starker: Douglas Byrd High posted just 28.2% proficiency in Math I, while Terry Sanford High and E E Smith High landed near 36–41%. Chronic absenteeism at Cross Creek is also remarkably low at 6.7%, versus a 33.7% district rate and rates above 60% at schools like Ramsey Street High. Notably, the school serves a substantial share of economically disadvantaged students (47% free/reduced-price lunch) yet its Low Socioeconomic Status students ranked 6th in the state, and its African American and Hispanic students have repeatedly ranked in the top 10 statewide.

Cross Creek also stands out for its efficiency. It spends about $7,352 per student — far less than many lower-performing peers such as Reid Ross Classical High ($15,566) or Alger B. Wilkins High School ($13,760) — and maintains a high student–teacher ratio of 23.7:1. While its state rank dipped from #10 to #54 in 2025–2026, that still places it in the 92nd percentile and among the top tier of Cumberland County schools alongside Cumberland Polytechnic, Massey Hill Classical High, and Cumberland International Early College.