Hickory Sun

At Newton Conover City Schools, 49 out of 185 senior students taking the science portion of the ACT met the college readiness benchmark in the 2022-23 school year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Science scores among the district's schools rose to 26.5% compared to the previous school year, when 22.5% of students were considered ready for post-secondary education.

Discovery High School students stood out from schools in Newton Conover City Schools in science, with almost 66.7% of the 12th-graders hitting the ACT benchmark in the 2022-23 school year (32). Meanwhile, students from Newton-Conover High School struggled the most on the science portion, and only 12.4% were considered ready for college.

For comparison, North Carolina saw 26% of its students meeting or exceeding the ACT benchmarks for science during the 2022-23 school year.

Besides science, 43.2% of Newton Conover City Schools 12th-graders met English college readiness benchmarks in the 2022-23 school year. In reading, 37.3% of students were ready for college, and math scores revealed 31.4% of seniors also met the standard. Overall, Newton Conover City Schools had an average college readiness of 20.9% across all ACT areas.

North Carolina's education system is still grappling with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the 2022-23 ACT results, college readiness among North Carolina students falls short of pre-pandemic levels, with only 17.1% meeting benchmarks.

Additionally, the state's performance is lagging behind the national average, which currently stands at 21%.

School	Met or Exceeded Benchmarks (2021-22)	Met or Exceeded Benchmarks (2022-23)
Discovery High School	53.4%	66.7%
Newton-Conover High School	8.5%	12.4%
Newton Conover City Schools	22.5%	26.5%