South Asheville News

At Henderson County Schools, 220 out of 930 senior students taking the math portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Math scores among the district's schools rose to 23.7% compared to the previous school year, when 18% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Henderson County Early College students stood out from schools in Henderson County Schools in math, with almost 58.1% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (25). Meanwhile, students from Henderson County Career Academy struggled the most on the math portion, and only 5.7% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 25% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for math during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides math, 37.4% of Henderson County Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 34.7% of students were ready for college, and science scores revealed 25.5% 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	52.3%	58.1%
Hendersonville High School	21.8%	35.4%
West Henderson High School	21.3%	34.5%
East Henderson High School	13.5%	15.1%
North Henderson High School	10.1%	9.3%
Henderson County Career Academy	<5%	5.7%
Henderson County Schools	18%	23.7%