Best High Schools in Zip Code 28327

Zip code 28327 is home to just one high school—The Community Learning Center @ Pinckney—a small, alternative-style school in Carthage, NC serving grades 6 through 12 with about 77 students, and it sits inside the highly regarded Moore County Schools district. While that district ranks in the top quarter of North Carolina districts with a 4-star rating, this school operates at the opposite extreme, ranking 616th out of 640 high schools in the state and earning just 0 stars. The most striking fact for parents is the disconnect: a student attending this school is in a district that performs well overall, yet the school itself consistently lands in the bottom 1–4% of all North Carolina high schools across multiple years.

The Community Learning Center @ Pinckney serves a very vulnerable population: 83% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and chronic absenteeism is 74.4%—roughly three times the district rate of 19.3% and the state rate of 24.2%. Academic proficiency lags far behind district averages in every subject. For example, in the most recent data, 8th-grade science proficiency was just 9.1% at the school compared to 83.2% across Moore County, and English II EOC proficiency was 13.3% versus 73.5% districtwide. Even in a better year, such as 2024–2025 when 8th-grade reading proficiency reached 36.4%, that was still far below the district's 62.5%. The school does invest heavily in students, spending a very high $20,280 per student with a favorable 10.9-to-1 student-teacher ratio, yet these resources have not translated into test score gains.

Parents should interpret these numbers carefully because the school is extremely small—77 students spread across seven grade levels means average cohorts are around 11 students. A 9.1% proficiency rate could represent just one student, so year-to-year swings like reading dropping from 36.4% to 9.1% may reflect only a handful of students. Given its name, grade span, small size, high per-pupil spending, and extreme absenteeism, this school likely operates as an alternative or credit-recovery program for students facing significant academic, behavioral, or attendance challenges. The oldest available graduation rate (45.8% in 2016–2017) points to long-standing struggles. In short, The Community Learning Center @ Pinckney concentrates some of the highest-need students in the region, and its most critical challenge is clear: with nearly three-quarters of students chronically absent, consistent attendance must improve before academic outcomes can meaningfully change.