A L Brown High

A L Brown High is a large comprehensive public high school in Kannapolis, North Carolina, serving approximately 1,753 students in grades 9–12 as part of Kannapolis City Schools, a district that ranks among the lowest-performing in the state. The school recently earned a 0-star rating and placed 606th out of 662 high schools in North Carolina, putting it in the bottom 10% statewide. Nearly all students (99.83%) come from low-income households, and about 1 in 3 students is chronically absent—though the graduation rate of 89.1% slightly exceeds the state average.

Academic proficiency at A L Brown is dramatically below state averages, especially in mathematics. Only 7.7% of students are proficient in Math I, compared to 42.1% statewide, and similar gaps appear in Biology (26.5% vs. 58.5%) and English II (42.0% vs. 64.6%). Every student subgroup is performing in the bottom decile or worse: English language learners rank last in the entire state, gifted and talented students rank in the 1st percentile, and African American, Hispanic, White, and low-income students all rank between the 4th and 7th percentiles. The school’s own gifted students are severely underserved, indicating a systemic lack of instructional challenge, not just a need for remediation.

The comparison with nearby schools serving nearly identical poverty levels is telling. Carson High, just over 6 miles away, has a 99.72% free/reduced lunch rate yet achieves 91.5% proficiency in Biology and 63.7% in Math I. Concord High and South Rowan High also outperform A L Brown in most subjects. Meanwhile, schools in the higher-ranked Cabarrus County Schools, such as Northwest Cabarrus High and West Cabarrus High, rank far above A L Brown. Poverty alone does not explain these outcomes—the evidence points to school-level decisions as the key lever for change.