Schools · Bryson

Bryson, NC schools

Bryson’s public schools score below North Carolina’s averages: 45% of students are proficient in reading against 47.2% statewide, and 87% of high schoolers graduate on time against 87.7%. Kids attend Cherokee Extension School through grade 12, then Swain County Middle School or Cherokee Extension School and Cherokee Extension School.

Grades, test scores, graduation, spending and every school, from U.S. Department of Education data.

TownTapestry School GradeNew

Bryson’s School Grade: B-

The public schools Bryson’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, trail 51% of North Carolina’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they sit near the middle.

B-Test scoresCGraduation
North Carolina school districts we grade (318)Better than 49%
Lower resultsHigher results
North Carolina towns with similar household incomes (256)Better than 61%
High confidence. Built on 889 tested students and a graduating class of 131; ordinary year-to-year swings are unlikely to change the grade.
How the School Grade works
  • Results, not inputs. Math and reading proficiency on North Carolina’s state tests, each against the state average, plus the four-year graduation rate. Spending and class size are shown below but don’t count toward the grade. Tests: 2020–21; graduation: class of 2020.
  • The whole path. A town’s grade follows its kids: every district that serves it, weighted by the number of students tested in each. Tests count 60% and graduation 40%.
  • Graded within the state. Each state writes its own tests, so districts are lined up against the rest of North Carolina only. A+ top 5%A next 10%A- next 10%B B+ to B−, next 30%C C+ to C−, next 30%D D and D−, bottom 15%
  • Individual schools are graded the same way on their own test results, against every public school in North Carolina with 25+ students. Private schools aren’t graded: they don’t take the state tests.
  • What a grade can’t tell you. Test results track family income closely, so a high grade partly reflects who lives in a town. That’s why we also compare towns with similar incomes. Visit, ask other parents, and read neighbor reviews. It’s our own summary of U.S. Department of Education data, not an official rating.
School path

Where Bryson kids go to school

Grades K–12
Cherokee Extension School 110 students · Bryson City Swain County Schools
Grades 12
Cherokee Extension School 110 students · Bryson City Swain County Schools

Based on district boundaries from the U.S. Department of Education. Check with the district before you enroll.

Test scores · 2020–21

Below the state in reading

Reading (grades K–12, Swain County)45%
State average 47.2%
Math (grades K–12, Swain County)43%
State average 41.9%
Graduation · class of 2020

87% graduate on time

Graduation rate
87%
NC: 87.7%
Graduating class
131
students

The share of students who started ninth grade together and earned a regular diploma within four years.

Districts

The district serving Bryson

Each district’s own page has its spending, test scores, enrollment and every school.

Within reach

Colleges near Bryson

There’s no college in Bryson, but 3 colleges are within 30 miles. The closest is Southwestern Community College in Sylva, 14.5 miles away.

Western Carolina UniversityUniversity or college · Public · Cullowhee16.8 mi8,805 students

Straight-line distance from the center of Bryson. Degree-granting colleges with students on campus. Colleges marked › have their own page; the others are too small or don’t report enough to the Department of Education for one.

Every school

All 4 schools in Bryson

Showing 1–4 of 4 schools

School data from the U.S. Department of Education (NCES). Ratings are from neighbors on TownTapestry.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01