Buncombe County high school earns top 10 state ranking by U.S. News. See more rankings.
ASHEVILLE - One of Buncombe County's public high schools ranked top 10 in the state for "Best North Carolina High Schools" by U.S. News and World Report.
Nesbitt Discovery Academy came out at No. 7 for the 2023-24 school year.
Principal Heather Brookshire told the Citizen Times in a Aug. 29 email how proud she is of her students and staff.
"It's always a good feeling to have our school be recognized for excellence in education," she said.
"Our teachers are incredible people who love students and work tirelessly to bring their best every day. I am excited for our students and staff to be recognized for this accomplishment as it's an honor and privilege for us all to get to work and learn at NDA!"
Brookshire said that college and career readiness is at the center of what they do at Nesbitt. "It is our goal that all students walk across the stage prepared and ready for their next steps in life," she said.
NDA is a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) high school. Its goal is to provide challenging curriculum that will prepare students for college and develop talents in STEM fields, according to its website.
The rankings are out of 705 high schools in the state.
Here are some of the U.S. News and World Report N.C. rankings for the 2023-24 school year:
Buncombe County High Schools
7: Nesbitt Discovery Academy, West Asheville, 379 students.
113: A.C. Reynolds High School, 1 Rocket Drive, 1,140 students.
129: T.C. Roberson High School, 250 Overlook Road, has the most enrolled students in the county, 1,479.
143: North Buncombe High School, Weaverville, 978 students.
199: Enka High School, Candler off of Enka Lake Road, 1,015 students.
264: Buncombe County Early College is located on AB Tech's campus and has the lowest enrollment of 232 students.
266: Owen High School, Black Mountain, 676 students.
440-563: Erwin High School, Asheville, 1,070 students.
The other three high schools in Buncombe County — Virtual Academy, Community High and Middle College — were unranked.
Asheville City High Schools
51: School of Inquiry known as SILSA is located inside of Asheville High School and has 341 students.
103: Asheville High School in the city district has 1,132 students.
Henderson County High Schools
69: Hendersonville High School, 753 students.
114: Henderson County Early College, Flat Rock, 175 students.
134: West Henderson High School, Hendersonville, 1,087 students.
241: North Henderson High School, Hendersonville, 1,068 students.
248: East Henderson High School, Flat Rock, 910 students.
Top 10 best high schools in the state
1: The Early College at Guilford in Greensboro, Guildford County Schools District, 197 students.
2: STEM Early College at N.C. A&T in Greensboro, Guildford County Schools District, 192 students.
3: Onslow Early College, Jacksonville, Onslow County Schools District, 189 students.
4: Wake NCSU STEM Early College High School, Raleigh, Wake County School District, 235 students.
5: Raleigh Charter High School, 559 students.
6: Philip J. Weaver Ed Center, Greensboro, Guildford County Schools District, 306 students.
7: Nesbitt Discovery Academy, Asheville, Buncombe County Schools District, 379 students.
8: Highland School of Technology, Gastonia, Gaston County School District, 533 students.
9: Woods Charter, Chapel Hill, Woods Charter School District, 181 students.
10: Ardrey Kell High School, Charlotte, Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District, 3,494 students.
How it's ranked
The U.S. News and World Report ranks schools based on six categories, and each category is worth a certain percentage.
30%: college readiness, this is based off of the proportions of twelfth graders who took and earned a "qualifying score" on at least one Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exam — if a student earns a qualifying score, then it is worth three times more than just taking the exam.
20%: state assessment proficiency, which is the total score on the assessments the state requires that students have to pass for graduation.
20%: state assessment performance, measured by the comparison between the total scores on state assessments and the U.S News' expectations with the proportions of students who are Black, Hispanic and from low-income households.
10%: underserved student performance, based off of the scores on state assessment just from students who are Black, Hispanic and from low-income households. The U.S. News' compares these scores with what is "typical" in the state for non-undeserved students.
10%: college curriculum breadth, U.S. News' measures this by how many 12th graders took and earned a qualifying score on AP and IB exams in multiple areas.
10%: graduation rate, measured by ninth graders who graduated four academic years later.
More: Fast, fun facts before Buncombe County Schools starts; How well do you know your school?
More: Blue dresses, pink bows, 1st day jitters: Back to school in Asheville and Buncombe County
McKenna Leavens is the education reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at mleavens@citizentimes.com or follow her on Twitter @LeavensMcKennna. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: See NC high school rankings by US News and World Report
