Summary:
Zip code 27807, which includes the town of Bailey, North Carolina, is served by exactly one public high school: Southern Nash High, a grades 9–12 school enrolling 1,048 students within the Nash County Public Schools district.
Southern Nash High stands out because of its exceptional performance in mathematics despite serving a student population where 99.05% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. In Math I, 57.5% of students are proficient, compared to 42.1% statewide, while Math III proficiency reaches 78.7% versus 68.9% statewide. The school also outperforms its district in every tested subject. However, Biology and English II proficiency lag behind the state average: 53.2% versus 58.5% in Biology, and 58.7% versus 64.6% in English II. The school's graduation rate is 87.8%, nearly matching the state average of 88.8%, and its chronic absenteeism rate of 23.0% is actually better than both the district's 25.9% and the state's 24.2%.
Over the past two years, Southern Nash High has trended upward, improving its statewide rank from the 41st percentile in 2023–2024 to the 52nd percentile in 2025–2026, and earning a 3-star rating in the most recent year. At a school with such concentrated poverty, maintaining near-state-average graduation rates and outperforming the state in math are notable achievements. The main opportunities for growth are in Biology, English II, and reducing the roughly one-in-four students affected by chronic absenteeism. Parents should note the student-teacher ratio of 23.8, which suggests larger class sizes. With only one high school in the zip code, there are no within-area school comparisons, and the per-student spending figure of $9,274 is from 2018–2019 and may be outdated. Overall, this is a high-poverty school with real mathematical strengths and a positive trajectory.
Thank you for your feedback!