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Watauga County Schools Ranked as the Eighth Best School District in North Carolina

In a report by backgroundchecks.org, Watauga County Schools finished as the eighth best school district in the state. 

The ranking was calculated on a number of different criteria, including math and reading test scores, dropout rates, school funding and area poverty rates.

North Carolina lays claim to some of the best public school systems in the southeastern region of the United States; North Carolina schools rank 11th in the nation in college readiness according to U.S. News & World Report.

The best school district in North Carolina is Chapel-Hill-Carrboro City Schools, comprising 19 schools serving over 12,000 students in the southeastern part of Orange County, NC. Two of the districts high schools have been featured in The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek’s rankings of the best high schools in the nation.

Another large district of schools, Union City Public Schools of Union County, NC, ranks #2. UCPS’s accomplishments are vast; the district is home to three National Blue Ribbon award winning schools and boasts a graduation rate of 92.5 percent.

North Carolina’s largest school district, the Wake County Public School System, places third in the ranking. WCPSS administers 171 schools with over 160,000 students as of 2018.

Fourth on the list is Polk County Schools, a comparatively smaller district of seven schools located in rural Western North Carolina. Students enrolled in the districts schools have achieved an excellent graduation rate of 89%.

Asheville City Schools, a district of eleven schools serving the college town/outdoor recreation mecca of Asheville, NC, closes out the list of North Carolina’s top five public school districts.

For other neighboring counties, Yancey County ranked 25th, Ashe County ranked 28th, Caldwell County ranked 31st, MItchell County ranked 40th, Wilkes County ranked 47th, Alleghany County ranked 66th and Avery County ranked 68th.