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Alumni: what's one memory from Orange High that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,161
High
DISTRICT 783 · STATE 761
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370348001447
Orange High
500 Orange High Rd, Hillsborough, NC 27278 · (919) 732-6133 · Orange County
GRADES 09–12HIGH31-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,161 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 31% of North Carolina public high schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded North Carolina public high schools
Student : Teacher
19.6:1
59 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.2:1 · STATE 19.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
46%
537 students
DISTRICT 62% · 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 | 317 | 27% |
| Grade 10 | 269 | 23% |
| Grade 11 | 288 | 25% |
| Grade 12 | 287 | 25% |
Student demographics
64%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 67% · 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
Test scores
NC EOG / EOC 2024-25 . % Grade Level Proficient (Level 3+)English Language Arts
54.6%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
28.4%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 55 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 28 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of NC schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
44.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
64.7%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-20.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 44% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 65% typical for North Carolina schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Orange High
Orange High's state test result (44.5% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange High this school | 1,161 | 46.3% | 44.5% |
| Western Alamance High Elon | 1,138 | 49.5% | 48.5% |
| Sun Valley High Monroe | 1,272 | 46.1% | 42.2% |
| Southern Alamance High Graham | 1,148 | 49.8% | 36.3% |
| White Oak High Jacksonville | 1,252 | 48.4% | 40.1% |
| Hendersonville High Hendersonville | 794 | 44.3% | 53.3% |
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 Orange High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Orange County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 44.5% | #265 of 468 | N/A |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 28.4% | #299 of 464 | N/A |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 54.6% | #244 of 448 | N/A |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,161 | #147 of 598 | #3 of 7 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.6:1 | #289 of 473 | N/A |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.5% | #180 of 474 | N/A |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 46.3% | #401 of 527 | N/A |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -10.0% | #124 of 277 | N/A |
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
1,161
-137 (-11%) vs 2020
-14% since 1990-91, when it was 1,346
Student : Teacher
19.6:1
was 15.6:1
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 | 1,161 | 59.1 | 19.6:1 | 46% (537) |
| 2023-24 | 1,220 | 77.3 | 15.8:1 | 42% (516) |
| 2022-23 | 1,341 | 81.3 | 16.5:1 | 41% (547) |
| 2020-21 | 1,298 | 83 | 15.6:1 | 25% (328) |
| 2017-18 | 1,290 | 82.8 | 15.6:1 | 29% (376) |
| 2015-16 | 1,312 | 81 | 16.2:1 | 32% (426) |
| 2010-11 | 1,195 | 76 | 15.7:1 | 33% (396) |
| 2000-01 | 1,671 | 105 | 15.9:1 | 10% (161) |
| 1990-91 | 1,346 | 87 | 15.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Orange High.
Since 2017-18: students down 10% (1,290 to 1,161); teachers down 29% (82.8 to 59.1).
About Orange High
Orange High runs as a large high school in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Its enrollment is 1,161 students, spread over grades 9 through 12. Across high schools in North Carolina, the average enrollment is about 761.
Orange High is among 13 schools run by Orange County Schools, which serves 6,982 students.
About 51% of the student body at Orange High is White. The remaining students are 25% Hispanic, 17% Black, and 6% multiracial. Among people living in Orange County, the White share is about 69%. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 64%.
Orange High has 59.1 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff and a student-to-teacher ratio of 19.6:1. The ratio is within a point of the 19.6:1 average for high schools in North Carolina. The school has 46% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Orange High holds a C allk12 Grade, placing it above 31% of North Carolina public high schools.
On BeatsExpectations, which compares test results with what a school's student poverty level would predict, Orange High ranks in the bottom 10% in North Carolina. Its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 44.5%, against a prediction of 64.7%.
Census data for Orange County show the median household earns about $90,089 a year, roughly 62% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Counting Orange High, Orange County has 38 public schools.
Orange High's nearest public school is Orange Middle (about 0.2 miles). Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. Compared with its nearest neighbors, Orange High ranks 6th of 6 on average proficiency.
NCES lists the school's locale as Town: Fringe. That means it sits in a town close to an urbanized area.
In 2020-21, Orange High enrolled 1,298 students. By 2024-25, that number had fallen to 1,161. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 15.6:1 to 19.6:1.
People can post here about special education services, counseling, and support programs and other school topics. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Orange County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
149,678
Census ACS
Median income
$90,089
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
62%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
38
19,582 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Orange County Schools
- Cedar Ridge HighHigh · 1,148 students
- A L Stanback MiddleMiddle · 648 students
- Efland Cheeks ElementaryElementary · 532 students
- New Hope ElementaryElementary · 528 students
- River Park ElementaryElementary · 523 students
- Orange MiddleMiddle · 514 students
Other schools in Hillsborough
- Cedar Ridge HighHigh · 1,148 students
- Eno River AcademyCombined · 828 students
- A L Stanback MiddleMiddle · 648 students
- River Park ElementaryElementary · 523 students
- Orange MiddleMiddle · 514 students
- Hillsborough ElementaryElementary · 435 students
Other Orange High schools
4 other US public schools in 4 states are named Orange High. Orange High is the 4th largest of the 5.
- Orange High SchoolLewis, OH · 1,936 students
- Orange HighOrange, CA · 1,728 students
- Orange High SchoolORANGE, NJ · 1,368 students
- Orange High SchoolPepper Pike, OH · 617 students
Nearby schools
- Orange Middle0.2 mi · 514
- Eno River Academy0.9 mi · 828
- River Park Elementary1.1 mi · 523
- Hillsborough Elementary1.2 mi · 435
- Pathways Elementary1.3 mi · 371
- Central Elementary1.4 mi · 261
Frequently asked questions
About Orange HighHow large is Orange High?
Orange High enrolls approximately 1,161 students in grades 09-12.
Is Orange High an elementary, middle, or high school?
Orange High is a high school covering grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Orange High?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Orange High is approximately 19.6:1 (59 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Orange High?
Orange High reports a student body of 51% White, 25% Hispanic, 17% Black, 1% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Is Orange High public or private?
Orange High is a public K-12 school, overseen by Orange County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.