Best High Schools in Zip Code 27546

Zip code 27546 (Lillington, NC) has two public high schools: Western Harnett High, a traditional 9–12 school with 1,324 students, and STAR Academy, a small 6–12 school with just 31 students; both belong to Harnett County Schools. Western Harnett High is by far the stronger of the two, ranked 528th of 662 (20th percentile) in 2025–2026, while STAR Academy ranks 637th of 662 (4th percentile). The district overall sits at the 30th percentile statewide, and neither school performs near the top half.

For families in this zip code, Western Harnett High is the main option and the more stable choice. Its graduation rate is 85.7%, close to the district’s 87.5% and the state’s 88.8%, and its chronic absenteeism rate of 22.2% is better than both the district (26.9%) and the state (24.2%). Math is a relative bright spot: Math I proficiency is 32.1% (district: 31.6%), and Math III is 54.2% (district: 53.3%). English II (48.9%) and Biology (40.1%), however, trail district averages by about 6 and 9 points, revealing that reading and science are weaker subjects. The school still lands in the bottom fifth of the state, but attendance and math outcomes are encouraging compared with the district.

STAR Academy’s challenges are far more severe. Its graduation rate is just 29.6%, chronic absenteeism is 81.7%, and proficiency rates sit in the single digits or teens across nearly every subject, including 7.4% in Math I, 20.0% in English II, and 11.8% in 6th-grade reading. The school serves a very high-poverty population, with 87.1% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Despite spending $14,449 per student — 77% more than Western Harnett High — and maintaining a small student-teacher ratio of 8.7 to 1, STAR Academy’s outcomes remain dramatically lower. With only 31 students, results are volatile, but the consistent low scores across grades and subjects indicate systemic struggles. STAR Academy is the school most in need of intervention; resources must be paired with attendance recovery, counseling, and intensive academic support.