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Does Cary High have enough mental health and stress support?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
2,044
High
DISTRICT 1,536 · STATE 761
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WAKE COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370472001844
Cary High
638 Walnut St, Cary, NC 27511 · (919) 460-3549 · Wake County
GRADES 09–12HIGH12-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL2,044 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
17.5:1
117 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.5:1 · STATE 19.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
39%
788 students
DISTRICT 47% · STATE 82%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 515 | 25% |
| Grade 10 | 534 | 26% |
| Grade 11 | 517 | 25% |
| Grade 12 | 478 | 23% |
Student demographics
69%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 73% · STATE 71% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Based on published attendance-zone data from Wake County Schools. Zones change; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
NC EOG / EOC 2024-25 . % Grade Level Proficient (Level 3+)English Language Arts
69.9%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
31.5%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 70 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 32 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all North Carolina schools, those numbers are about 51 and 52.
Source: NC EOG / EOC. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
55.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
67.1%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-12.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 55% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 67% typical for North Carolina schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among North Carolina's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Cary High
Cary High's state test result (55.1% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cary High this school | 2,044 | 38.6% | 55.1% |
| Porter Ridge High School Indian Trail | 1,809 | 39.4% | 59.2% |
| West Forsyth High Clemmons | 2,145 | 37.9% | 58.9% |
| Athens Drive High Raleigh | 2,156 | 44.0% | 45.7% |
| Millbrook High Raleigh | 2,498 | 33.3% | 52.7% |
| Sanderson High Raleigh | 1,648 | 43.4% | 39.2% |
Matched among North Carolina high schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Cary High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Wake County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 55.1% | #158 of 468 | #17 of 31 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 31.5% | #264 of 464 | #17 of 31 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 69.9% | #119 of 448 | #18 of 29 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 2,044 | #32 of 598 | #14 of 39 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.5:1 | #178 of 473 | #13 of 37 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 69.5% | #76 of 474 | #12 of 37 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 38.6% | #434 of 527 | #12 of 34 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -14.5% | #86 of 277 | #6 of 17 |
Ranked against other public high schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
2,044
-27 (-1%) vs 2020
+38% since 1990-91, when it was 1,479
Student : Teacher
17.5:1
was 17.4:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 2,044 | 116.8 | 17.5:1 | 39% (788) |
| 2023-24 | 2,136 | 122.7 | 17.4:1 | 42% (890) |
| 2022-23 | 2,145 | 122.1 | 17.6:1 | 39% (840) |
| 2020-21 | 2,071 | 119 | 17.4:1 | 28% (574) |
| 2017-18 | 2,390 | 133.5 | 17.9:1 | 30% (707) |
| 2015-16 | 2,398 | 135 | 17.8:1 | 32% (776) |
| 2010-11 | 2,250 | 123 | 18.3:1 | 30% (666) |
| 2000-01 | 1,742 | 118 | 14.8:1 | 12% (208) |
| 1990-91 | 1,479 | 99 | 14.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Cary High.
Since 2017-18: students down 14% (2,390 to 2,044); teachers down 12% (133.5 to 116.8).
About Cary High
In Cary, North Carolina, Cary High is a large high school. It has an enrollment of 2,044 students in grades 9 through 12. That compares with an average of about 761 students for high schools in North Carolina.
Wake County Schools serves 163,176 students across 198 schools.
The largest group at Cary High is White students, at 43%. Other students are 29% Hispanic, 17% Black, 6% Asian, and 5% multiracial. That is lower than the 58% White share among all Wake County residents. The diversity index for Cary High is 69%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
Staffing at Cary High comes to 116.8 full-time-equivalent teachers, or 17.5:1. High schools in North Carolina have an average ratio of 19.6:1. On the income side, 39% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Public schools in Wake County average a similar 42%.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Cary High would score about 67.1%. It scores 55.1%, 12.0 points below that figure.
The county, Wake County, is where the school is located. The median household earns about $105,768 a year, 57% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of people live in poverty. Wake County has 237 public schools with about 184,790 students, including Cary High.
A public school about 0.4 miles away, Adams Elementary, is the closest to Cary High. Cary High has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Among 8 nearby schools that report test results, Cary High ranks 8th on proficiency.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is City: Mid-size.
Cary High had 2,071 students in 2020-21 and 2,044 in 2024-25, nearly the same.
On allk12, people connected to Cary High can post about special education services, counseling, and support programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Wake County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,178,653
Census ACS
Median income
$105,768
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
57%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
237
184,790 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Wake County Schools
- Apex Friendship HighHigh · 2,748 students
- Enloe HighHigh · 2,643 students
- Panther Creek HighHigh · 2,609 students
- Millbrook HighHigh · 2,498 students
- Apex HighHigh · 2,449 students
- Leesville Road HighHigh · 2,411 students
Other schools in Cary
- Panther Creek HighHigh · 2,609 students
- Green Hope HighHigh · 2,304 students
- Green Level HighHigh · 2,283 students
- Triangle Math and Science AcademyCombined · 1,904 students
- Mills Park MiddleMiddle · 1,632 students
- Alston Ridge MiddleMiddle · 1,494 students
Nearby schools
- Adams Elementary0.4 mi · 655
- East Cary Middle0.4 mi · 597
- Cary Elementary1.1 mi · 477
- Farmington Woods Elementary1.1 mi · 648
- Briarcliff Elementary1.2 mi · 486
- Connections Academy1.4 mi · 8
Frequently asked questions
About Cary HighWhat is the total enrollment at Cary High?
Cary High enrolls approximately 2,044 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Cary High serve?
Cary High serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
How many students per teacher at Cary High?
Approximately 17.5:1 students per teacher at Cary High.
What is the student diversity at Cary High?
Student demographics at Cary High are roughly 43% White, 29% Hispanic, 17% Black, 6% Asian, 5% Two or more.
What district is Cary High in?
Cary High is part of Wake County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.