South Asheville News

At Henderson County Schools, 348 out of 930 senior students taking the English portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

English scores among the district's schools rose to 37.4% compared to the previous school year, when 35.9% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Henderson County Early College students stood out from schools in Henderson County Schools in English, with almost 86% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (37). Meanwhile, students from Henderson County Career Academy struggled the most on the English portion, and only 14.3% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 41% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for English during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides English, 34.7% of Henderson County Schools 12th-graders met reading college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In science, 25.5% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 23.7% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Henderson County Schools had an average college readiness of 15.4% across all ACT areas.

North Carolina's education system is still grappling with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the 2022-23 ACT results, college readiness among North Carolina students falls short of pre-pandemic levels, with only 17.1% meeting benchmarks.

Additionally, the state's performance is lagging behind the national average, which currently stands at 21%.

School	Met or Exceeded Benchmarks (2021-22)	Met or Exceeded Benchmarks (2022-23)
Henderson County Early College	79.5%	86%
Hendersonville High School	41.7%	57.3%
West Henderson High School	44.9%	42%
East Henderson High School	21.1%	27.6%
North Henderson High School	28.9%	22.9%
Henderson County Career Academy	<5%	14.3%
Henderson County Schools	35.9%	37.4%