Best High Schools in Zip Code 27312

ZIP code 27312, which covers the Pittsboro area of North Carolina, is home to two public high schools—Seaforth High and Northwood High—both serving grades 9–12 within Chatham County Schools, a district rated 4 stars and ranked in the top 75th percentile statewide.

Seaforth High is the larger school with about 1,088 students and posts the stronger academic profile: it ranks #158 in North Carolina (76th percentile, 4 stars) with average 2025–26 EOC proficiency of 75.4%. Its best subjects are English II (85.6% proficient) and Math III (85.4%), while Math I is the weak spot at 54.2%. Only 20% of Seaforth students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Northwood High, by contrast, serves 634 students with an economically disadvantaged population of 99.5%—yet it still achieves solid results: a #228 state ranking (66th percentile, 3 stars), a 93.9% graduation rate, and a lower chronic absenteeism rate (15.7% vs. Seaforth’s 19.3%). Northwood’s average EOC proficiency is 67.1%, only about 8 points behind Seaforth, and it trails by just 3.5 points in Biology and 4.5 points in English II. Northwood also benefits from a much smaller student-to-teacher ratio of 12.9 compared to Seaforth’s 19.0, suggesting more individualized attention.

Both schools improved sharply from 2024–25 to 2025–26. Seaforth’s Math I proficiency jumped 19.2 points, while Northwood gained over 14 points in Biology and nearly 10 points in English II. Math I remains the common challenge at both schools—a 31-point gap at Seaforth and a 39-point gap at Northwood when compared to English II. Statewide rankings have also climbed: Seaforth moved from #204 to #158, and Northwood from #238 to #228 over three years. In short, Seaforth is the higher-performing school by raw scores, but Northwood is arguably the overachiever given its high-need population, better attendance, smaller classes, and strong graduation rate.