SALISBURY, N.C. — Rowan-Salisbury Schools has moved out of North Carolina’s low-performing district designation for the first time since the 2018-19 school year as newly released state accountability results show improvement across several Rowan County schools.
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction released 2025-26 testing and accountability results Wednesday. The data includes School Performance Grades, student proficiency, academic growth and graduation rates.
Eight Rowan-Salisbury schools improved their School Performance Grade from the previous year: Bostian Elementary, China Grove Elementary, Knollwood Elementary, Morgan Elementary, Overton Elementary, Rockwell Elementary, Southeast Middle and West Rowan High.
Bostian Elementary and Rockwell Elementary each earned a B. Bostian received its first B since 2018, while Rockwell earned a B for the first time.
West Rowan High School improved to a C, its first C since 2019.
Rowan County Early College remained one of the district’s highest-performing schools, maintaining an A while also exceeding expected academic growth.
Carson High School maintained a B after gaining eight points on its School Performance Grade score. The school also achieved 100% of its academic growth target.
Seven schools increased their performance scores by at least 10 points: China Grove Elementary, Knollwood Elementary, Koontz Elementary, Morgan Elementary, Rockwell Elementary, Erwin Middle and West Rowan High.
The results also showed substantial changes in academic growth.
Twelve schools improved their growth status, including China Grove Elementary, Hurley Elementary, Knollwood Elementary, Overton Elementary, Rockwell Elementary, Morgan Elementary, Shive Elementary, Hanford Dole Elementary, Granite Quarry Elementary, Koontz Elementary, North Rowan Elementary and Erwin Middle.
Five schools made the larger jump from failing to meet expected growth in 2024-25 to exceeding expected growth in 2025-26. Those schools were Granite Quarry Elementary, Hurley Elementary, Knollwood Elementary, Overton Elementary and Rockwell Elementary.
Every Rowan-Salisbury elementary school met expected growth in reading, according to the district. All but two middle schools met or exceeded expected reading growth.
Mathematics results showed a similar trend at the elementary level, with all but one elementary school meeting or exceeding expected growth.
Across 19 tested academic areas from elementary through high school, Rowan-Salisbury reported overall growth in 18.
The improvements also changed the district’s standing with the state.
Under North Carolina law, a school district is identified as low-performing when more than half of its schools are designated as low-performing. A low-performing school receives a D or F School Performance Grade and does not exceed expected academic growth.
Seven Rowan-Salisbury schools were removed from the state’s low-performing designation following the latest results, according to the district.
The district identified China Grove Elementary, Hurley Elementary, Knollwood Elementary, Morgan Elementary, Overton Elementary and West Rowan High among the schools removed from the designation.
The changes were enough for Rowan-Salisbury to exit the low-performing district category for the first time since 2018-19.
The improvement follows years of poor accountability results for the district. During the 2023-24 school year, 19 of Rowan-Salisbury’s 31 schools were classified as low-performing.
Several schools remain close to moving into a higher performance grade.
China Grove Elementary, Hanford Dole Elementary, Hurley Elementary, North Rowan Middle and East Rowan High each finished one performance point short of earning the next letter grade, according to Rowan-Salisbury Schools.
Superintendent Kelly Withers credited investments in teachers, standards-based instruction, literacy and changes made through the district’s Renewal flexibility.
“Our progress is the result of intentional work: investing in our educators, strengthening standards-based instruction, building a strong foundation in reading, and creating more engaging learning experiences for students,” Withers said.
School Performance Grades provide one measure of school performance and rely heavily on student achievement. North Carolina calculates the grades using achievement and academic growth, along with additional measures for high schools.
The Rowan County improvements came during a year of broader academic gains across North Carolina.
Statewide, 59.2% of students were grade-level proficient across end-of-grade and end-of-course assessments in 2025-26, the highest level in three years. The percentage considered college and career ready increased from 34.7% in 2024-25 to 37.5%.
The percentage of North Carolina schools receiving a D or F dropped from 31% in 2024-25 to 23% in 2025-26.
The number of low-performing schools declined by 162, while the number of low-performing districts dropped from 23 to 10.
North Carolina also recorded its highest four-year graduation rate, reaching 88.8%, up from 87.8% the previous year.
For Rowan-Salisbury, the latest results represent a reversal from years in which more than half of the district’s schools met the state definition of low-performing. The next accountability cycle will show whether the district sustains those gains and whether schools now near the threshold move into higher performance grades.
