Back to School: Local Schools Rank Among Best

Five North Mecklenburg public schools rank among the top high schools in North Carolina, according to the annual rankings by U.S. News & World Report.

Lake Norman Charter is the top-ranked northern school in Charlotte metro at No. 5, followed by Pine Lake Preparatory at No. 7, Community School of Davidson at No. 12, Hough High School at No. 15 and Mountain Island Charter School at No. 27.

The rankings are based on six measures of school performance, with the greatest weight given to college readiness. U.S. News uses the measures to produce an overall score for each school rather than relying solely on test scores or graduation rates.

• Lake Norman Charter received a score of 96.82, with a graduation rate above 95% and a college readiness of 72.3%.
• Pine Lake Prep received a score of 96.31, with a graduation rate above 95% and a college readiness of 68.9%.
• CSD received a score of 94.38, with a graduation rate above 95% and a college readiness of 62.1%.
• Hough received a score of 92.52, with a graduation rate of 95% and a college readiness of 56.4%.
• MICS received a score of 85.29, with a graduation rate above 95% and a college readiness of 46.8%.

The rankings were developed in partnership with RTI International and use data from the 2023-24 school year.