The Alamance-Burlington school system’s on-time graduation rate improved at four high schools over the past year and increased by 1.5 percentage points overall – from 84.5 percent in 2024-2025 to 85.9 percent in 2025-2026, based on the latest graduation data released last week by the state Department of Public Instruction (DPI).
ABSS as a whole and three of its seven traditional high schools, however, trailed the most recent statewide graduation rate and the graduation rates at 14 out of 15 other Piedmont-Triad school systems. Only Eastern and Southern (both with 90.5 percent graduation rates), as well as the ABSS Early College, exceeded the state average of 88.8 percent. The school system as a whole (at 85.9 percent) trailed the statewide rate by 2.9 percentage points.
Statewide, the percentage of high school seniors who graduated within the traditional four-year time frame in 2026 edged up by one percentage point from last year’s graduation rate of 87.8 percent, according to DPI’s latest annual graduation report.
Even with the graduation rate improvements in 2025-2026, however, five of the seven high schools did not reach the graduation rates they had achieved two years ago, in the 2023-2024 school year. Only Cummings and Graham, which had the lowest graduation rates within ABSS, improved above their 2023-2024 levels.
The four-year graduation rates increased at four of the seven ABSS traditional high schools: Eastern; Graham; William; and Southern High. (See accompanying chart for a breakdown of graduation rates by school.)
[Story continues below chart of county and charter high school graduation rates over past six school years.]
Graham High School recorded the largest increase in the four-year graduation rate this year – an increase of 5.5 percentage points, from 75.2 percent in 2025 to 80.7 percent in 2026 – among the seven traditional ABSS high schools.
Southern High School experienced the second-highest increase of 5.3 percentage points, from 85.2 percent in 2025 to 90.5 percent this year.
Southeast High School experienced the largest decrease in the four-year graduation rate, which declined by 1.9 percentage points from 88.8 percent 2025 to 86.9 percent in 2026. The graduation rate at Southeast trailed the statewide rate by 1.9 percentage points but exceeded the system-wide rate for ABSS by one percentage point, according to DPI.
The four-year graduation rate for the Alamance-Burlington Early College (ABEC) housed on Alamance Community College’s campus remained unchanged, at greater than 95 percent, out of 63 students eligible to graduate, for an 11h consecutive year, according the state’s annual graduation reports.
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The graduation rate for ABEC also surpassed the statewide graduation rate (88.8 percent) by 6.2 percentage points and the system-wide rate (85.9 percent) by 9.1 percentage points.
The four-year graduation rates for Eastern and Southern high schools also outpaced the statewide and system-wide rates this year.
Eastern High School’s graduation rate (90.5 percent) was 1.7 percentage points higher than the state average and 4.6 percentage points higher than the rate for ABSS overall (85.9 percent).
Southern High School’s graduation rate (90.5 percent) was 1.7 percentage points higher than that for the state as a whole (88.8 percent) and 4.6 percentage points higher than the system-wide graduation rate for ABSS in 2026.
Graduation rates at four ABSS schools trail statewide and system-wide rates
The four-year graduation rates for Cummings, Graham, Western, and Williams high schools trailed both the statewide and system-wide graduation rates in 2026, according to DPI.
The graduation rate at Cummings (78.9 percent), which was the lowest among the seven traditional ABSS high schools, trailed the statewide graduation rate (88.8 percent) by 9.9 percentage points and that for ABSS as a whole (85.9 percent) by seven percentage points.
With a four-year graduation rate of 80.7 percent, Graham High School had the second-lowest graduation rate of the seven ABSS high schools this year, trailing the statewide rate by 8.1 percentage points and the system-wide rate by 5.2 percentage points.
The on-time graduation rate at Williams (83.7 percent) also trailed the statewide rate by 5.1 percentage points and the system-side rate by 2.2 percentage points.
Western High School’s four-year graduation rate (85.5 percent) trailed this year’s statewide rate by 3.3 percentage points and the system-wide rate by four-tenths of one percentage point, according to DPI’s annual report.
Long-term and regional trends
The four-year graduation rate for ABSS is up 3.5 percentage points over the past decade, according to DPI’s analysis, which shows that 82.4 percent of ABSS seniors graduated on time in 2017.
The system-wide graduation rate for ABSS peaked at 87 percent in 2021, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, matching the statewide rate (87 percent) for the first time in recent memory. ABSS recorded its second-highest graduation rate in 2024, when 86.2 percent of seniors graduated on time, according to DPI.
Among the 16 public school systems that make up the Piedmont-Triad region, ABSS had the second-lowest four-year graduation rate, outpacing only Thomasville city schools (see accompanying chart).
Thomasville city schools, which has one high school and is located in Davidson County, had the lowest four-year graduation rate (76.1 percent) among the 16 Piedmont-Triad region school systems, reflecting a decrease of 3.7 percentage points from the previous year, when 79.8 percent of seniors at Thomasville High School graduated within four years, according to DPI.
Surry County schools had the highest four-year graduation rate (94.3 percent) in the Piedmont-Triad region, surpassing the statewide rate by 5.5 percent and the system-wide rate for ABSS by 8.4 percentage points.
Graduation rates at county’s charter schools top statewide and ABSS rates
Meanwhile, on-time graduation rates at two public charter schools in Alamance County – River Mill Academy in Graham and The Hawbridge School in Saxapahaw – surpassed both the statewide average and the system-wide graduation rate for ABSS for 2025-26, according to DPI’s latest report (see accompanying chart).
River Mill Academy had a graduation rate of more than 95 percent (out of 47 eligible seniors), which was 6.2 percentage points higher than the statewide average (88.8 percent) and 9.1 percentage points higher than the system-wide average of 85.9 percent for ABSS during the 2025-26 school year.
The Hawbridge School had the second-highest four-year graduation rate (94.3 percent of 53 students) among the county’s charter schools, surpassing the statewide rate by 5.5 percentage points and the system-wide rate for ABSS by 8.4 percentage points.
The on-time graduation rate for Clover Garden School (83 percent of 53 students) declined by 10 percentage points from the previous year’s rate, trailing the statewide rate by 5.8 percentage points and the system-wide average rate for ABSS by 2.9 percentage points in 2025-26.
[Story continues below chart with four-year graduation rates for county’s charter schools]
No graduation rate is reported for the county’s fourth charter school, Alamance Community School off Jimmie Kerr Road, which currently goes to the eighth grade.
The latest on-time graduation rates that DPI released last week for all N.C. public school systems and as public charter schools reflect students who entered the ninth grade in the fall of 2022 and graduated within four years.
School board members heard a presentation during their latest semi-monthly meeting Tuesday afternoon about the 2025-26 School Performance Grades for ABSS, but there was no mention of this year’s graduation rates.
