Graham High

Graham High is a traditional public high school in Graham, NC, serving 828 students in grades 9–12 as part of Alamance-Burlington Schools. The school serves a very high-poverty population — nearly all students (99.64%) qualify for free or reduced-price lunch — and currently ranks in the bottom tier of North Carolina high schools, sitting at the 11th percentile statewide with a 1-star rating.

Academic proficiency at Graham trails district and state averages by wide margins in every tested subject. Math III proficiency is 36%, roughly 33 points below the state rate, while English II proficiency is 40.6% compared with the state's 64.6%. Perhaps most telling is the comparison to nearby Eastern Alamance High, a school with an almost identical poverty rate (99.68%) that posts substantially stronger results: 61.7% proficiency in Math I versus Graham's 26.9%, and a graduation rate of 90.5% versus Graham's 80.7%. This demonstrates that high poverty does not have to dictate low outcomes. Graham's graduation rate also remains below the district rate of 85.9% and the state rate of 88.8%.

Chronic absenteeism is a significant challenge, with 41.3% of Graham students chronically absent — far above the district rate of 30.0% and state rate of 24.2% — and is likely a key factor behind lower academic results. On a more encouraging note, Graham is showing signs of stabilization: chronic absenteeism has fallen by more than 18 percentage points since its pandemic-era peak, the graduation rate improved by 5 points in the latest year, and Math I proficiency jumped from 10.7% to 26.9% in a single year. The school also spends more per student ($10,422) than several higher-performing district peers, meaning additional resources are available but have not yet translated into stronger academic outcomes.