Schools in Zip Code 28694

Zip code 28694 in North Carolina contains three schools, all part of the Ashe County Schools district, which ranks #48 out of 246 districts statewide: one elementary school (Westwood Elementary serving grades K–6) and two high schools (Ashe County High and Ashe County Early College High), with no middle school serving grades 7–8 in this area. All three schools serve very high-poverty populations, with free/reduced lunch eligibility between roughly 98% and 99%.

The clear academic standout is Ashe County Early College High, which ranks #93 out of 662 North Carolina high schools (86th percentile, 4 stars) and posts staggering End-of-Course proficiency rates: Biology 86%, English II 90.2%, Math I 92%, and Math III 93.6% — an average of about 90.5%. That's nearly 27.5 points higher than the 63% average at Ashe County High, with the largest gap on Math I (92% vs. 56%). Meanwhile, Westwood Elementary earns a 60th-percentile state rank with particularly strong 6th grade math proficiency at 88.7% compared to the state's 59.2%, and it has a remarkable chronic absenteeism rate of just 9.6% versus the state's 24.2%.

Ashe County High is a solid, improving school — it ranks #292 out of 662 (56th percentile, 3 stars) and jumped from the 43rd percentile the prior year — though it trails its Early College counterpart badly and has a 19% chronic absenteeism rate that exceeds the district's 13.7%. Westwood's results are uneven by grade level: its 3rd grade reading proficiency soared from 42.2% to 64.5% in one year, while 5th grade science dropped sharply from 81.8% to 63.5%. The Early College's unusual 51.8:1 reported student-teacher ratio reflects the model's reliance on college instructors rather than poor classroom conditions. Bottom line: this high-poverty area holds an elite early college program, a traditional high school on an upward trajectory, and an elementary school with standout math performance — though the structural gap for grades 7–8 means those students are served by schools outside this zip code.