Penn-Griffin Schools

Penn-Griffin Schools is a grade 6–12 public school in High Point, NC, part of Guilford County Schools, enrolling about 539 students. Despite serving a community where nearly all students (98.7%) qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, Penn-Griffin stands out as a high-achieving school, ranking 146th out of 662 North Carolina high schools (78th percentile) with a 4-star rating—far surpassing the district’s overall 39th percentile ranking.

Academically, Penn-Griffin posts exceptional high-school results that rival specialized programs. Its students dramatically outperform district and state averages on End-of-Course tests, including a 90.3% proficiency rate in English II and an impressive 96.5% in Math III, placing it ahead of nearby GTCC Middle College High in those subjects. However, this strength is not uniform. The school’s main area for improvement is 9th-grade Math I, where only 30.8% of students are proficient, well below the state average of 42.1%, though historical scores were much higher. Similarly, middle-school math EOG scores trail state averages, creating a clear focus point for the school.

Beyond test scores, Penn-Griffin creates a supportive environment. Its chronic absenteeism rate (23.5%) is better than the state average and significantly lower than nearby High Point Central High (40.0%) and T Wingate Andrews High (38.7%). With a favorable student-teacher ratio of 12.5 to 1, the school excels at supporting students who are often underserved elsewhere, earning high marks for its work with low-income and African American students. For parents seeking a tight-knit school that delivers strong high-school outcomes against the odds, Penn-Griffin is an academic outlier worth a close look.