Ben L. Smith High School

Ben L. Smith High School is a large, traditional public high school in Greensboro, North Carolina, that serves 1,348 students in grades 9–12 as part of Guilford County Schools. Its recent performance has been consistently low, earning a 1-star rating and ranking 520th out of 662 North Carolina high schools (21st percentile) for 2025-2026. The student body faces very high socioeconomic disadvantage, with roughly 99.8% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

Attendance is the most urgent issue for families to understand: 54.1% of Ben L. Smith students were chronically absent in 2024-2025, more than double the statewide rate of 24.2% and far higher than the district's 29.2%. Its 83.5% graduation rate also trails the district (93.0%) and state (88.8%). In every End-of-Course subject, proficiency rates fall below district and state averages, with English II showing the largest gap (39.8% proficient vs. 64.6% statewide) and Math I also very low at 26.1%. There are encouraging trends, however — the school improved in every subject from 2024-2025 to 2025-2026, most notably Biology, which jumped from 27.0% to 48.7% proficiency.

A comparison with Academy at Smith — a school just 0.25 miles away serving a nearly identical population — illustrates that different outcomes are possible. Academy at Smith ranks 250th statewide versus Ben L. Smith's 520th, has chronic absenteeism of just 16.0% versus 54.1%, and outperforms Ben L. Smith in every tested subject by substantial margins. It also operates with a lower student-teacher ratio (12.4 vs. 16.1) and higher per-pupil spending ($14,187 vs. $10,645). The data does show bright spots: Ben L. Smith ranks near the 50th percentile for effectiveness with African American students and at the 74th percentile for homeless students, and gifted student results rose dramatically this year. Overall, the evidence suggests school structure, climate, and attendance — not family income alone — drive the differences families see in outcomes.