Best High Schools in Zip Code 28771

Zip code 28771 is home to just one public high school, Robbinsville High, which serves grades 9–12 in the rural mountain community of Robbinsville, NC, with a small enrollment of 332 students. As the only high school in Graham County Schools, the school’s results are identical to the district’s figures, making it the single driving force behind the county’s academic reputation. Robbinsville High serves an overwhelmingly economically disadvantaged population, with 99.1% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, yet it manages to post a graduation rate of 88.5%—nearly matching the state average of 88.8%—and a chronic absenteeism rate of 23.8%, which is actually lower than the district’s 30.0% and slightly better than the state’s 24.2%.

Academically, the school tells a more challenging story. In the most recent 2025–2026 school year, Robbinsville High fell below the North Carolina state average in every End-of-Course exam: Biology proficiency was 34.7% versus 58.5% statewide, English II was 47.2% versus 64.6%, Math I was 25.0% versus 42.1%, and Math III was 50.7% versus 68.9%. The largest gap was in Biology, a 23.8-point deficit, while only one in four students passed Math I. This marks a sharp reversal from the prior year when the school actually outperformed the state in English II (62.9% vs. 59.6%) and Math I (39.2% vs. 34.4%). English II saw the most dramatic collapse, swinging from 3.3 points above the state average to 17.4 points below it in just one year.

Robbinsville High’s SchoolDigger ranking reflects this decline: after holding steady at the 39th percentile with 2 stars for two straight years, the school plummeted to the 15th percentile with 1 star in the 2025–2026 ranking, falling from 388th to 566th out of over 660 North Carolina high schools. Because the school and district are one and the same at the high school level, Graham County Schools now sits at 228th out of 246 districts statewide. Despite high poverty, the school’s strong graduation and attendance rates point to real student persistence, but the recent EOC proficiency drops—especially in biology, math, and English—signal that academic support will be critical in the years ahead.