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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Wake Forest High School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
2,043
High
DISTRICT 1,536 · STATE 761
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WAKE COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370472001901
Wake Forest High School
420 West Stadium Drive, Wake Forest, NC 27587 · (919) 554-8611 · Wake County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL2,043 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 53% of North Carolina public high schools
- B+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
18.8:1
109 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.5:1 · STATE 19.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
30%
621 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 | 546 | 27% |
| Grade 10 | 545 | 27% |
| Grade 11 | 506 | 25% |
| Grade 12 | 446 | 22% |
Student demographics
65%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
Test scores
NC EOG / EOC 2024-25 . % Grade Level Proficient (Level 3+)English Language Arts
67.9%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
36.1%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 68 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 36 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
56.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
69.6%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-13.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 56% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 70% 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 Wake Forest High School
Wake Forest High School's state test result (56.2% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wake Forest High School this school | 2,043 | 30.4% | 56.2% |
| Needham Broughton High Raleigh | 2,153 | 28.1% | 53.4% |
| D H Conley High Greenville | 1,757 | 33.3% | 59.0% |
| Millbrook High Raleigh | 2,498 | 33.3% | 52.7% |
| Willow Spring High Fuquay Varina | 2,223 | 28.7% | 54.0% |
| Wakefield High Raleigh | 2,065 | 36.1% | 52.5% |
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 Wake Forest High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Wake County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 56.2% | #149 of 468 | #16 of 31 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 36.1% | #231 of 464 | #16 of 31 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 67.9% | #139 of 448 | #20 of 29 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 2,043 | #33 of 598 | #15 of 39 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.8:1 | #253 of 473 | #24 of 37 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.7% | #176 of 474 | #21 of 37 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 30.4% | #475 of 527 | #20 of 34 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -6.9% | #174 of 277 | #9 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
2,043
-220 (-10%) vs 2020
+95% since 1990-91, when it was 1,046
Student : Teacher
18.8:1
was 18.9:1
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 | 2,043 | 108.6 | 18.8:1 | 30% (621) |
| 2023-24 | 2,075 | 110.6 | 18.8:1 | 30% (629) |
| 2022-23 | 2,101 | 111.1 | 18.9:1 | 27% (565) |
| 2020-21 | 2,263 | 120 | 18.9:1 | 18% (403) |
| 2017-18 | 2,194 | 116.5 | 18.8:1 | 25% (543) |
| 2015-16 | 1,961 | 110 | 17.8:1 | 27% (529) |
| 2010-11 | 2,077 | 112 | 18.5:1 | 25% (517) |
| 2000-01 | 1,183 | 88 | 13.4:1 | 17% (196) |
| 1990-91 | 1,046 | 67 | 15.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Wake Forest High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (2,194 to 2,043); teachers down 7% (116.5 to 108.6).
About Wake Forest High School
In Wake Forest, North Carolina, part of Wake County, Wake Forest High School is a high school. Its grade span covers grades 9 through 12, with 2,043 students on the rolls. On average, high schools in North Carolina enroll around 761, and this school is 168% larger than that mark.
The 198 schools of Wake County Schools, including Wake Forest High School, enroll 163,176 students.
The largest group at Wake Forest High School is White students, at 51%. Smaller groups are 23% Black, 18% Hispanic, 4% multiracial, and 3% Asian. The diversity index for Wake Forest High School is 65%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
Staffing at Wake Forest High School comes to 108.6 full-time-equivalent teachers, or 18.8:1. The school's 18.8:1 compares with an average of 19.6:1 for high schools in North Carolina. On the income side, 30% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. That is lower than the 42% average for public schools in Wake County.
On the allk12 Grade, Wake Forest High School lands at B-, ahead of 53% of North Carolina public high schools.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Wake Forest High School would score about 69.6%. It scores 56.2%, 13.4 points below that figure.
In the surrounding county, Wake County, the median household earns about $105,768 a year, 57% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Counting Wake Forest High School, Wake County has 237 public schools.
About 0.6 miles separate Wake Forest High School from the closest public school, Wake Forest Elementary. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. Ranked by average proficiency, Wake Forest High School places 5th out of 6 schools in its immediate area.
The federal government classifies Wake Forest High School's location as Suburb: Large.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, Wake Forest High School had a net loss of 220 students, or 10%.
This page collects posts and questions about Wake Forest High School, such as fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. 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 Wake Forest
- Wake Preparatory AcademyCombined · 2,617 students
- Heritage HighHigh · 1,778 students
- Franklin AcademyCombined · 1,660 students
- Heritage MiddleMiddle · 947 students
- Wake Forest Middle SchoolMiddle · 878 students
- Endeavor Charter SchoolElementary · 799 students
Nearby schools
- Wake Forest Elementary0.6 mi · 444
- Richland Creek Elementary1.5 mi · 558
- North Wake College and Career Academy1.6 mi · 346
- Wake Forest Charter Academy1.7 mi · 650
- Envision Science Academy1.7 mi · 759
- Wake Forest Middle School2.2 mi · 878
Frequently asked questions
About Wake Forest High SchoolHow many students attend Wake Forest High School?
Wake Forest High School enrolls approximately 2,043 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Wake Forest High School serve?
Wake Forest High School serves grades 09-12.
How many teachers does Wake Forest High School have?
Wake Forest High School employs 109 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 18.8:1.
What is the student diversity at Wake Forest High School?
Student demographics at Wake Forest High School are roughly 51% White, 18% Hispanic, 23% Black, 3% Asian, 4% Two or more.
What district is Wake Forest High School in?
Wake Forest High School is part of Wake County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.