Best High Schools in North Carolina for Special Education Students

Check out our new feature available only on SchoolDigger: rankings for different groups of students in North Carolina!

Every year, the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction shares test results for various student groups in each school. We use these results to find out which schools do best for each group and list them from the best to the worst.

Additionally, we also compare the performance of the subgroup to the performance of the school as a whole. This makes it easy to see if, for example, Special Education students are overperforming or underperforming their peers in each school.

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish North Carolina test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the EOC test scores by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction. The most recent update was on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (Special Education vs All Students - 2024)
ID	Rank (of 349)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Statewide Rank Percentile (Special Education)	Statewide Rank Percentile (All Students)	Rank Percentile Difference from All Students	SchoolDigger Rating (Special Education)	SchoolDigger Rating (All Students)
370472003495	1	Green Level High	Public	9-12	7600 Roberts Rd	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 694-8222	2,052	101	20.2	5.9%	865 (42.2%)	127 (6.2%)	130 (6.3%)	849 (41.4%)	6 (0.3%)	5 (0.2%)	70 (3.4%)								99.7%	91.9%	7.84%
370032603261	2	Research Triangle High School	Public, Charter	9-12	3106 East NC Highway 54	Durham	27709	Durham County	Research Triangle High School	Yes	No	No	No	(919) 998-6757	582	39	14.9		244 (41.9%)	85 (14.6%)	78 (13.4%)	102 (17.5%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	69 (11.9%)								99.4%	77.7%	21.77%
370297002220	3	Providence High School	Public	9-12	1800 Pineville-Matthews Rd	Charlotte	28270	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 343-5390	2,048	94	21.8	10.6%	1,320 (64.5%)	187 (9.1%)	206 (10.1%)	274 (13.4%)	1 (0.0%)	1 (0.0%)	59 (2.9%)	$8,296			$371			$7,925	99.1%	88.9%	10.23%
370011202551	4	Union Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	675 North ML King Jr Blvd	Monroe	28110	Union County	Union Academy Charter School	Yes	No	No	No	(704) 238-8883	2,129	124	17.1		1,464 (68.8%)	217 (10.2%)	287 (13.5%)	36 (1.7%)	8 (0.4%)	2 (0.1%)	115 (5.4%)								98.9%	84.8%	14.01%
370462002552	5	Weddington High	Public	9-12	4901 Monroe-Weddington Road	Matthews	28104	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-6319	1,836	84	21.7	6.6%	1,257 (68.5%)	115 (6.3%)	160 (8.7%)	240 (13.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.1%)	62 (3.4%)	$7,418			$423			$6,995	98.6%	87.3%	11.22%
370014502926	6	Pine Lake Preparatory	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	104 Yellow Wood Circle	Mooresville	28115	Iredell County	Pine Lake Preparatory	Yes	No	No	No	(704) 237-5304	1,879	112	16.7		1,550 (82.5%)	31 (1.6%)	112 (6.0%)	110 (5.9%)	4 (0.2%)	2 (0.1%)	70 (3.7%)								98.3%	89.1%	9.22%
370036903340	7	IC Imagine	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	110 Champion Way	Asheville	28806	Buncombe County	Invest Collegiate - Imagine	Yes	No	No	Yes	(828) 633-6491	1,248	95	13.1		975 (78.1%)	49 (3.9%)	129 (10.3%)	12 (1.0%)	3 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	80 (6.4%)								98.0%	72.3%	25.65%
370297002910	8	Ardrey Kell High School	Public	9-12	10220 Ardrey Kell Road	Charlotte	28277	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 343-0860	3,529	166	21.2	9.9%	1,602 (45.4%)	429 (12.2%)	435 (12.3%)	960 (27.2%)	4 (0.1%)	6 (0.2%)	93 (2.6%)	$7,345			$428			$6,917	97.7%	82.8%	14.90%
370043803459	9	Ascend Leadership Academy: Lee County	Public, Charter	6-12	283 Harvey Faulk Road	Sanford	27332	Lee County	Ascend Leadership Academy: Lee County	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 842-5411	547	40	13.8		307 (56.1%)	70 (12.8%)	103 (18.8%)	6 (1.1%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	57 (10.4%)								97.4%	64.4%	33.05%
370472002489	10	Green Hope High	Public	9-12	2500 Carpenter Upchurch Road	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 380-3700	2,001	101	19.7	8.3%	973 (48.6%)	119 (5.9%)	126 (6.3%)	718 (35.9%)	5 (0.2%)	2 (0.1%)	58 (2.9%)	$7,421			$399			$7,021	97.1%	86.3%	10.88%

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for North Carolina

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for NC student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Homeless Students Gifted and Talented Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on EOC Biology, EOC English II, EOC Math I, EOC Math III test scores released by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.
These rankings were last updated on September 4, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.