Haywood County Schools (HCS) serves 6,499 students enrolled in grades pre-kindergarten to early college. HCS is the largest school system west of Buncombe County, with 15 schools – 8 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, 2 comprehensive high schools, 1 alternative high school, and 1 early college.

Our Staff
• 576 permanent certified and 306 permanent non-certified staff
• HCS certified staff collectively holds 344 bachelor’s degrees, 181 master’s degrees, 27 advanced degrees, 3 doctorate degrees and 114 are National Board certified.

Preparing Students for Success
• Haywood County Schools prepares students to be college and career ready by providing: Advance Placement (AP), Career and College Promise (CCP), honors courses, NC Virtual Public School (NCVPS), Career and Technical Education (CTE), ROTC, arts, and world languages. Students participating in AP and CCP classes have the opportunity to earn college credits while completing their high school graduation requirements. HCS students also have opportunities to participate in STEM, internships, and multiple extracurricular activities.
• Out of NC’s 115 school districts, HCS ranked 7th in overall performance composite, 11th on the ACT, and 8th for the ACT/Workkeys combined indicator. Workkeys is administered to
all students who have completed a concentration in career and technical education courses.
• Other noteworthy state rankings include: 7th overall in performance composite; top 10 in all subjects for grades 3,4,5,8,9,10,11,12; 4th in 3rd grade math; 6th in 4th grade math; 5th in 5th grade math; 8th in 8th grade math; 1st in Math 1; 10th in 5th grade reading; 7th in 8th grade science; 4th in biology
• Haywood Early College prepares students to be college ready by offering a blended experience of college and high school classes from which students earn a high school diploma, along with a 2-year transferable degree. For the 2021-22 school year, Haywood Early College tied for first in the state among early colleges with greater than 95% of their students proficient on state standards. The school was also recognized as an Apple Distinguished School.

2022 Senior Class
• 500 academic diplomas
• 163 plan to attend a 4-year college
• 162 will attend a 2-year college
• 14 have enlisted in the military
• 114 are already employed
• 47 are undecided

Sources of School Funding
Local $16,927,140 • State $49,591,873 • Federal $19,235,796
Per pupil expenditure is $12,875. Of 115 districts in the state, HCS’s expenditure, including child nutrition is ranked:
State – 71st • Federal – 63rd • Local – 34th • Total – 61st

Number of students enrolled in
• Exceptional Children’s program 18.75%
• Academically Gifted program 12%
• Free & Reduced Lunch 41.4% of ADM

Transportation
Each year, HCS transports more than 2,600 students approximately 737,000 miles on 64 buses. The HCS transportation department has historically received some of the top “Best Bus” inspections ratings in the state.  This is awarded to the county with the fewest defects found on school buses.

Nutrition
The HCS child nutrition department serves an average of 2,554 breakfasts and 4,361 lunches daily.

Maintenance
The maintenance department maintains more than 380 acres of property, including 136 buildings and over 1.65 million sq ft of space. The average age of our facilities is 50 years.

Haywood County Schools Foundation
The Haywood County Schools Foundation gave $658,758 to students, staff, and schools during 2021-22. Of that money, $41,376 went to classroom grants, 93 student scholarships were given totaling $400,500, and $96,000 was given for local flood relief.