Wallace-Rose Hill High

Wallace-Rose Hill High is a public high school serving 738 students in grades 9–12 in Teachey, a small rural town in eastern North Carolina, and is part of Duplin County Schools. Nearly all of its students (99.6%) qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a poverty rate similar to other schools in the area. The school holds a 1-star rating and ranks in the bottom 10% of North Carolina high schools, with academic proficiency lagging well behind district and state averages for years.

On recent state tests, just 16.2% of Wallace-Rose Hill students were proficient in Math I, 25.0% in Biology, 37.0% in English II, and 51.2% in Math III — all below the district and far below state averages. Math I has been a persistent weakness, with proficiency stuck between 12% and 19% for several years, suggesting many students enter ninth grade without solid math foundations. Both East Duplin High and James Kenan High outperformed it in nearly all of these subjects, while Duplin Early College High — which serves a similarly high-poverty population just a short drive away — posted proficiency rates roughly 40 to 45 percentage points higher in Biology and Math III.

There are bright spots worth noting. Wallace-Rose Hill's graduation rate has improved steadily to 84.9% — above the district average of 84.0% and higher than both of Duplin County's other traditional high schools. Chronic absenteeism, at 19.9%, is also better than the state average of 24.2%. However, graduation and test results tell different stories: with roughly eight in ten students walking the stage while only about one in six shows proficiency in Math I, many graduates may be earning diplomas without demonstrating grade-level mastery on state assessments. For parents, this means dependable attendance and strong graduation momentum, but the consistently low academic proficiency — especially in early high school math — remains a serious concern worth a closer look.