The Orange County, Chatham County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City school districts are celebrating positive performance trends demonstrated in the latest accountability report from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
All 13 Orange County Schools earned a performance grade of “C” or higher for the 2025-26 school year, marking the first time since 2017 that no school in the district had been designated as low performing.
“This milestone belongs to the entire Orange County Schools community,” OCS Superintendent Danielle Jones said in a release shared Wednesday alongside the DPI report. “It reflects the extraordinary work happening in our classrooms, the determination of our students and the belief our families place in our schools every day.”
The 2025-26 achievement comes after all OCS schools exceeded or met their growth targets during the 2024-25 academic year — the first time that had happened in the history of the school district. Jones took over as OCS Superintendent in February 2024, and 2024-25 was her first full academic year in charge.
Some of the specific achievements highlighted by OCS in a release were:
Orange High School exceeding growth for the third consecutive year Cedar Ridge High School exceeding growth for the 10th consecutive year Academic performance increasing across every student group measured, with each group improving by at least two percentage points Black students, white students and economically disadvantaged students achieving their highest levels of academic performance since the current model began in 2013-14“What makes this moment especially meaningful is knowing that progress is taking place across our district,” said Jones. “We celebrate what we have accomplished together, and we move forward with an even greater responsibility to ensure every student experiences the excellence we know is possible.”
In Chatham County’s district, 66.1% of students demonstrated at least grade-level proficiency, nearly 7% above the statewide average. The district’s graduation rate also climbed to 92.3%, exceeding the statewide average by 3.5 percentage points. Eleven CCS schools exceeded expected growth during the 2025-26 year, with both Seaforth High School and Chatham Early College earning “A” performance grades. The 2025-26 year was the fourth consecutive year Chatham Early College had exceeded growth, while Virginia Cross Elementary exceeded growth for the sixth consecutive year.
“These results reflect the tremendous work happening every day in classrooms throughout Chatham County,” said CCS Superintendent Kelly Batten in a Wednesday release. “Our students continue to demonstrate what they are capable of achieving when they are challenged and supported by educators who believe in their success.
Three of Chatham County Schools’ campuses did not meet expectations: Chatham Middle School, Margaret B. Pollard Middle School and ONE Academy.
Meanwhile, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools saw 14 of its schools exceed or meet growth expectations (77.8%) — pacing ahead of the statewide rate of districts, but seeing four campuses not meet the targets (Carrboro Elementary, Frank Porter Graham Elementary, McDougle Middle School and Phillips Middle School). The district celebrated increases in its on-time graduation rate (93.8%), amount of schools earning “A” and “B” grades for overall performance, proficiency rate on state exams (73.1%), and schools exceeding growth targets in math and reading.
“I am especially proud that we are not simply maintaining strong outcomes, we are improving them,” CHCCS Superintendent Rodney Trice said in the district’s release. “More schools are earning A and B performance grades, more schools are meeting or exceeding growth expectations, and more of our students are demonstrating proficiency. That progress is a testament to the focused work of our students, educators, school leaders and families.
“Behind every one of these numbers are students who worked hard, staff who believed in them, school leaders who stayed focused on improvement, and families who supported learning every day,” Trice added. “I am incredibly proud of what our community accomplished together. These results affirm what is possible when we combine high expectations with great teaching, strong relationships and a shared belief in what our students can achieve.”
Across the state, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction reported positive trends in state test results (59% of students scored at or above grade level, up four points from 2024-25), high school graduation rates (88.8% graduated in four years, up 1% from 2024-25) and school performance (36% of schools were graded “A” or “B,” up 8% from 2024-25 and up 13% from 2021-22).
Featured image via Chapel Hill Media Group/Elena Pace
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