Best Public Schools in Zip Code 28792

ZIP code 28792 in Hendersonville, North Carolina, is home to eight schools serving about 4,193 students in pre-K through grade 12 — one high school, one middle school, and six schools classified as elementary. Seven of these schools belong to Henderson County Schools, while The Mountain Community School is a K-8 school that also forms its own district. Poverty is a defining feature of the area: Bruce Drysdale Elementary, Clear Creek Elementary, Sugarloaf Elementary, Edneyville Elementary, and Dana Elementary each have free/reduced lunch rates close to 99 percent, while North Henderson High (60.65 percent) and Apple Valley Middle (68.54 percent) serve more mixed-income populations.

High poverty, however, does not automatically mean low achievement. The Mountain Community School is the ZIP code's standout, ranking 217th of 1,492 elementary schools (85th percentile) with 5th grade reading and math proficiency around 90 percent, and its rank has improved from 507 to 217 over two years. Clear Creek Elementary is the strongest traditional elementary school, ranking 486th despite a 99 percent poverty rate and posting the area's lowest chronic absenteeism at 10.9 percent. North Henderson High is similarly strong, ranked 178th of 662 high schools with a 93.2 percent graduation rate and Math III proficiency of 89.8 percent — far above both district and state averages.

The biggest concerns are Dana Elementary (14th percentile), Sugarloaf Elementary (27th percentile), and Apple Valley Middle, where reading proficiency runs 12 to 17 points below state averages in every middle-grade test. Since Dana and Sugarloaf serve poverty populations nearly identical to Clear Creek Elementary, their low scores point to school-level differences rather than economics alone. Reading is the area's most common academic weakness, while standout schools excel in math. Apple Valley Middle also has the highest chronic absenteeism rate at 25 percent. Even The Mountain Community School, so strong in elementary grades, shows a sharp drop-off by 8th grade, with math proficiency at just 27.8 percent. Overall, strong options exist at The Mountain Community School, Clear Creek Elementary, and North Henderson High, but families should examine reading support carefully at Dana Elementary, Sugarloaf Elementary, and Apple Valley Middle.