South Asheville News

At Henderson County Schools, 237 out of 930 senior students taking the science portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Science scores among the district's schools rose to 25.5% compared to the previous school year, when 21.7% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Henderson County Early College students stood out from schools in Henderson County Schools in science, with almost 53.5% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (23). Meanwhile, students from Henderson County Career Academy struggled the most on the science portion, and only 8.6% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 26% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for science during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides science, 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 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	36.4%	53.5%
Hendersonville High School	29.5%	37.8%
West Henderson High School	25.2%	36.6%
East Henderson High School	14%	17.2%
North Henderson High School	17.9%	11.2%
Henderson County Career Academy	<5%	8.6%
Henderson County Schools	21.7%	25.5%