Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Gastonia, N.C. – Students in Gaston County Schools are achieving at a higher level with improved overall performance on end-of-grade and end-of-course state tests and more schools meeting or exceeding academic growth expectations, according to preliminary state testing and accountability data for the 2025-2026 year. In addition to an increase in student achievement, Gaston County Schools attained its best graduation rate ever.
The N.C. State Board of Education and the N.C. Department of Public Instruction released the preliminary data to the public on Wednesday, September 2. The data released by the state provides insight on student proficiency, academic growth, school performance grades, and the graduation rate for Gaston County Schools for 2025-2026.
Superintendent of Schools Morgen A. Houchard credits the school district’s intentional and concentrated focus on student learning as well as the implementation of the Innovation Schools model at 10 schools for the improvements in overall academic achievement. Houchard said offering structured professional development, requiring collaboration in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), monitoring student progress through data analysis, ensuring the alignment of teaching practices to the state standards, and enhancing the learning environment through instructional coaching and classroom management programs are among the factors that contributed to the district’s 2025-2026 successes in the state testing and accountability program.
“We are extremely pleased to see increases in our test scores, significant gains in academic growth, and a graduation rate that is our highest ever,” stated Houchard. “Today, with the release of the state testing and accountability data, we are able to begin celebrating in a big way the hard work that has taken place over the past two years to improve student achievement.”
Houchard added, “I am so proud of everyone who had a hand in ensuring that our students are learning at a higher level. We are moving in the right direction when it comes to the improved academic success of our students, and I am confident that we will keep the momentum going.”
Houchard says he is most encouraged by the gains in academic growth with 92 percent of schools meeting or exceeding expectations. Academic growth indicates whether students achieve a year’s worth of academic progress for a year’s worth of instruction. Growth is reported in one of three ways: Exceeded Growth, Met Growth, or Did Not Meet Growth.
For the 2025-2026 school year, Gaston County had 47 of 51 schools (92 percent) to meet or exceed academic growth expectations – this is a significant improvement when compared to the two previous years. In 2024-2025, 71 percent of schools met or exceeded growth, and only 53 percent met or exceeded growth in 2023-2024.
At the elementary school level, W.A. Bess, Carr, Gardner Park, Lingerfeldt, Pinewood, Pleasant Ridge, Rankin, Robinson, Sadler, Sherwood, and Woodhill exceeded academic growth expectations. All 11 middle schools either met or exceeded growth – Belmont, Chavis, Cramerton, Grier, Holbrook, Southwest, and Stanley exceeded expectations. At the high school level, Ashbrook, Cherryville, Stuart W. Cramer, Gaston Early College, Gaston Early College of Medical Sciences, Highland, and South Point exceeded expectations.
Students in grades 3-8 are tested in reading and math, and a state science test is given in the fifth and eighth grades. High school students take state tests in four subject areas: Math I, Math III, Biology, and English II. Proficiency is based on the number of students scoring a Level III, IV, or V on the state tests.
Gaston County Schools achieved its highest graduation rate ever – 90 percent. When the state first calculated the graduation rate in 2005-2006, Gaston County’s rate was 68.1 percent.
Three of Gaston County’s high schools – Gaston Early College, Gaston Early College of Medical Sciences, and Highland – have a 100 percent graduation rate, and five schools have a graduation rate that exceeds 90 percent: Cherryville, Stuart W. Cramer, East Gaston, North Gaston, and South Point.
Additionally, seven schools have a higher graduation rate when compared to 2024-2025: Ashbrook, Bessemer City, Stuart W. Cramer, East Gaston, Gaston Virtual Academy, North Gaston, and South Point. Gaston Virtual Academy (+13.0) had the most significant increase in the graduation rate when compared to the previous year, going from 76.3 percent to 89.3 percent.
Gaston’s graduation rate of 90 percent is higher (+1.2) than the state rate of 88.8 for the Class of 2025.
Called the four-year cohort graduation rate, it reflects the percentage of students who entered the ninth grade in 2022-2023 and graduated four years later in 2025-2026. The four-year graduation rate is not the same as the dropout rate, which indicates the number of students who drop out of high school in a given year. Some students need an extra year of high school to complete graduation requirements. The district’s five-year cohort graduation rate is 89.8 percent, which is higher than last year’s rate of 87 percent. The five-year cohort graduation rate reflects the number of students who entered the ninth grade in 2021-2022 and graduated in 2025-2026.
The state uses the testing and accountability data to give school performance grades, which were assigned for the first time in 2014. On a 15-point grading scale, a school’s performance letter grade is determined using a formula that is based only on two factors: student achievement (test scores/proficiency), which counts for 80 percent of the school performance grade, and student academic growth, which counts for 20 percent.
The school performance grade should not be interpreted as a comprehensive evaluation that indicates the quality of a school since only select criteria are used to determine the grade. School size, diverse student population, socioeconomics, teacher experience, student learning obstacles, special programs, parental and community involvement, and other factors have an effect on a school’s performance, but are not considered in the grade.
For the 2025-2026 school year, Gaston County had 37 of 54 schools to earn an A, B, or C grade – three schools received an A grade, 15 schools received a B grade, and 19 schools received a C grade. Gaston Early College High School, Gaston Early College of Medical Sciences, and Highland School of Technology are the schools with an A grade. No school received an F grade.
When compared to the 2024-2025 year, 45 of 54 schools have a higher school performance score, which is used to assign the school performance grade. The most significant increases (double-digit gains) in school performance scores for 2025-2026 were Sherwood (+20), Ashbrook (+14), East Gaston (+12), Lingerfeldt (+12), Carr (+11), Pleasant Ridge (+11), and Bessemer City Central/Bessemer City Primary (+10).
Fourteen schools – Belmont Middle, Bessemer City Central/Bessemer City Primary, Bessemer City High, Carr, Cherryville High, East Gaston, Forestview, Lingerfeldt, Pinewood, Pleasant Ridge, Rankin, Sherwood, and Woodhill – received a higher school performance grade when compared to 2024-2025. Additionally, nine schools are within three or fewer points of achieving a higher school performance grade: Ashbrook, Chapel Grove, Gardner Park, Holbrook, Hunter Huss, Sadler, South Point, Stanley, and Tryon. South Point High School is within one point of receiving an A school performance grade.
Houchard explained, “We realize there is still work to do as we want our students, our teachers, and our schools to perform at the highest level possible; however, we believe the positive trends are an indication of what is to come for Gaston County Schools. Student proficiency is higher, the percentage of schools meeting and exceeding academic growth is higher, the number of schools with an A, B, or C school performance grade is higher, and our graduation rate is the highest ever. We have fewer schools with the low-performing school designation, we have no schools with an F grade, and we have a number of schools that are within just a few points of having a higher school performance grade.”
Dr. Houchard added, “I am grateful for everyone’s focus on student achievement; what we have accomplished is the result of everyone’s willingness to make necessary changes, step up as leaders in public education, concentrate on shared goals, and work together. We have achieved so much in a short period of time, and I cannot wait to see what we accomplish this school year.”
For the 2025-2026 year, Gaston County Schools implemented the Innovation Schools model at 10 schools (H.H. Beam, Bessemer City Central, Lingerfeldt, Pleasant Ridge, Sherwood, Woodhill elementary schools, Grier and Southwest middle schools, and Ashbrook and Hunter Huss high schools) where improving achievement has been a challenge. The Innovation School model centers around the idea that everyone associated with the school thinks with strategy, acts with intent, and works with enthusiasm to reach a common goal of improving achievement through strengthening instructional practices and elevating the school setting.
All 10 Innovation Schools increased student proficiency – Sherwood +19.1, Ashbrook +12.4, Grier +8.2, Bessemer City Central +7.9, and Woodhill +6.8 had the most significant increases in student proficiency, and all 10 Innovation Schools increased their school performance score – Sherwood +20, Ashbrook +14, Lingerfeldt +12, Pleasant Ridge +11, and Bessemer City Central +10 had the most significant increases in school performance scores. Five of the Innovation Schools improved their school performance grade; most notable was Sherwood Elementary, which improved from an F to a C.
Seven of the Innovation Schools – Ashbrook, Grier, Lingerfeldt, Pleasant Ridge, Sherwood, Southwest, and Woodhill exceeded academic growth expectations. Grier and Southwest achieved the highest growth index for Gaston County Schools – students at Grier and Southwest “grew” or progressed academically far above what was expected when compared to their peers across the state. Additionally, five of the Innovation Schools that were designated as low-performing in 2024-2025 are no longer low-performing – Lingerfeldt, Pleasant Ridge, Sherwood, Southwest, and Woodhill.
Superintendent Houchard stated, “The work done at our Innovation Schools is the game changer we needed to achieve higher overall academic performance for Gaston County Schools. To see improvements in just the first year of having the Innovation Schools is encouraging, and as we grow and expand the Innovation Schools model, we are hoping for even better results.”
The test scores released by the state are preliminary results. The results will be verified, and the official results will be a part of the district and school report cards that are compiled by the state. Click here for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction’s “Accountability Data Sets and Reports” webpage for additional information.
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