Summary:
In zip code 27411 (Greensboro, NC), there are two public high schools—STEM Early College @ NC A&T SU and A&T Four Middle College—both small, college-themed schools serving grades 9–12 within Guilford County Schools. Combined, they enroll about 354 students, and nearly all students at each school (roughly 98%) qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting very high economic need. Despite this, both schools outperform their district averages in most subjects, showing that high poverty does not have to limit academic success.
The standout is STEM Early College @ NC A&T SU, which is ranked #1 in North Carolina for 2024–2025. It reports 100% proficiency on Math III, Biology, and English II—far above district and state averages. In contrast, A&T Four Middle College is above average but not elite, ranking #195 out of 662 schools in 2025–2026. What makes A&T Four noteworthy is its rapid improvement: Biology proficiency jumped from 57.8% to 85.7% and Math I from 24% to 70.6% in one year, while its ranking rose from the 42nd to the 71st percentile. These two schools show that school model and local implementation can matter more than zip code or demographics.
A&T Four Middle College also stands out for attendance, with a chronic absenteeism rate of only 8.5%, far better than the district’s 29.2% and the state’s 24.2%. This strong attendance culture may help explain its upward momentum. Interestingly, STEM Early College achieves its top-ranked results with a higher student-teacher ratio (18.1) and lower per-student spending ($10,069) compared to A&T Four (11.9 ratio and $14,153 per student). One limitation is that some data are missing or older—for example, STEM Early College has no reported chronic absenteeism data, and spending figures are from 2018–2019. Still, both schools demonstrate that high-need students can meet or exceed state standards through specialized early-college programs.
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