1
What's the vibe like in the hallways at Sanderson High right now?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,648
High
DISTRICT 1,536 · STATE 761
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WAKE COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370472001892
Sanderson High
5500 Dixon Drive, Raleigh, NC 27609 · (919) 881-4800 · Wake County
GRADES 09–12HIGH11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,648 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 19% of North Carolina public high schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats 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
18.1:1
91 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.5:1 · STATE 19.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
43%
716 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 | 469 | 28% |
| Grade 10 | 398 | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 407 | 25% |
| Grade 12 | 374 | 23% |
Student demographics
67%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
Feeds from
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
56.9%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
19.4%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 57 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 19 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
39.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
65.6%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-26.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 39% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 66% 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 Sanderson High
Sanderson High's state test result (39.2% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanderson High this school | 1,648 | 43.4% | 39.2% |
| Sun Valley High Monroe | 1,272 | 46.1% | 42.2% |
| Jacksonville High Jacksonville | 1,441 | 47.4% | 53.3% |
| Mooresville High School Mooresville | 1,923 | 41.2% | 44.8% |
| Wakefield High Raleigh | 2,065 | 36.1% | 52.5% |
| Porter Ridge High School Indian Trail | 1,809 | 39.4% | 59.2% |
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 Sanderson High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Wake County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 39.2% | #313 of 468 | #27 of 31 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 19.4% | #392 of 464 | #27 of 31 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 56.9% | #221 of 448 | #23 of 29 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,648 | #72 of 598 | #23 of 39 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.1:1 | #210 of 473 | #17 of 37 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 67.4% | #123 of 474 | #16 of 37 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 43.4% | #414 of 527 | #11 of 34 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -19.6% | #47 of 277 | #4 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
1,648
-10 (-1%) vs 2020
-10% since 1990-91, when it was 1,830
Student : Teacher
18.1:1
was 16.8:1
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 | 1,648 | 91.1 | 18.1:1 | 43% (716) |
| 2023-24 | 1,661 | 95.5 | 17.4:1 | 44% (726) |
| 2022-23 | 1,677 | 93.1 | 18.0:1 | 39% (660) |
| 2020-21 | 1,658 | 99 | 16.8:1 | 25% (419) |
| 2017-18 | 2,050 | 112.9 | 18.1:1 | 32% (660) |
| 2015-16 | 1,981 | 112 | 17.7:1 | 34% (669) |
| 2010-11 | 1,905 | 107 | 17.8:1 | 28% (536) |
| 2000-01 | 1,584 | 96 | 16.5:1 | 13% (202) |
| 1990-91 | 1,830 | 115 | 15.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sanderson High.
Since 2017-18: students down 20% (2,050 to 1,648); teachers down 19% (112.9 to 91.1).
About Sanderson High
Sanderson High is a public high school in Raleigh, North Carolina. Grades offered run from 9 through 12, with 1,648 students enrolled. For comparison, high schools in North Carolina average about 761 students.
Sanderson High is in Wake County Schools, a district with 163,176 students across 198 schools.
By race and ethnicity, the largest group at Sanderson High is White (47%). Other groups include 23% Black, 21% Hispanic, 5% multiracial, and 3% Asian. The county population is about 58% White. Sanderson High has a diversity index of 67%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Federal data list 91.1 full-time-equivalent teachers at Sanderson High in 2024-25, for a ratio of 18.1:1. Among high schools in North Carolina, the typical ratio is 19.6:1. The lunch program counts 43% of students at Sanderson High as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. That is close to the 42% average for public schools in Wake County.
The allk12 Grade for Sanderson High is C-. Compared with North Carolina public high schools, the school scored higher than 19% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Sanderson High is in the bottom 10% of North Carolina schools: 39.2% actual against 65.6% predicted.
Wake County has these Census figures: median household income is about $105,768, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 57% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 5%. The public schools of Wake County number 237 and enroll about 184,790.
The shortest distance from Sanderson High to another public school is about 0.5 miles, to Green Elementary. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. By average proficiency, Sanderson High is 9th among 9 schools close by.
NCES lists the school's locale as City: Large. That means it sits inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment was essentially flat over 4 years: 1,658 in 2020-21, 1,648 in 2024-25. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 16.8:1 to 18.1:1.
Questions about science fairs, picture day, and bus routes can be posted here. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
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 Raleigh
- Enloe HighHigh · 2,643 students
- Millbrook HighHigh · 2,498 students
- Leesville Road HighHigh · 2,411 students
- Athens Drive HighHigh · 2,156 students
- Needham Broughton HighHigh · 2,153 students
- Wakefield HighHigh · 2,065 students
Nearby schools
- Green Elementary0.5 mi · 534
- Brooks Elementary1.2 mi · 471
- Carroll Middle1.3 mi · 898
- Lynn Road Elementary1.4 mi · 486
- Douglas Elementary1.8 mi · 562
- North Ridge Elementary1.9 mi · 730
Frequently asked questions
About Sanderson HighWhat is the total enrollment at Sanderson High?
Sanderson High enrolls approximately 1,648 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Sanderson High serve?
Sanderson High serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Sanderson High?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Sanderson High is approximately 18.1:1 (91 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Sanderson High?
Student demographics at Sanderson High are roughly 47% White, 21% Hispanic, 23% Black, 3% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is Sanderson High public or private?
Sanderson High is a public K-12 school, overseen by Wake County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.