K-12 Education

With more than 161,900 students, Wake County is home to the largest public school system in North Carolina and 14th largest in the nation.  Even more importantly, it’s one of the state’s top performers. With a robust budget, the district is able to provide a broad range of educational opportunities and support services. The district recently received a $14.1M federal grant to expand services at four magnet schools.

A unique feature of the school district is that in addition to schools with a traditional calendar, there are also select schools offering a year-round program where instead of taking a long break for the summer, students take a 3-week break after each quarter. Talk about flexibility!

Richly diverse and serving more than 32,000 students, Durham Public Schools offers traditional schools, magnet programs, year-round calendar schools, and small specialty high schools. They have their very own “farm to school” nutrition program, featuring the use of local food and collaborations with local farmers and food partners. To say the district cares about children is an understatement; a partnership with Duke Children’s Hospital allows chronically ill and hospitalized children across the country to remain in school.

One of two school systems in Orange County, schools in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro system typically rank among the top five performers in the state and produce some of the state’s highest average SAT scores. In fact, Niche, which analyzes data from the U.S. Department of Education, along with test scores, college data, and ratings collected from millions of Niche users, ranks the school system the best in North Carolina. Serving 12,000 students, this district is a powerhouse!

The second of two school systems in Orange County, the district serves just over 7,200 students. The smallest of the four local districts, Orange County is by no means overshadowed by its larger neighbors.

The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics inspires talented young North Carolinians to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering, and math. The residential program in Durham is a public high school where juniors and seniors from across the state experience a world class STEM education. The first school of its kind, students can attend completely tuition-free. Learn more.