Schools and education are an important part of Our Polk life. Our public school system serves over 2,600 students from pre-kindergarten through grade twelve in six schools throughout the county.

Test scores for students in grades 3-12 consistently rank the system among the top ten in North Carolina. Our SAT scores exceed state and national averages and have increased from 985 to 1063 since 2000.

Our public school system is ranked 25th among the 115 school systems statewide in local per-pupil spending. The teacher/student ratio of Our Polk is among the highest in North Carolina. Test scores demonstrate that Polk County students exceed both the North Carolina ABC Accountability Standards and the Adequate Yearly Progress Goals required by the Federal No Child Left Behind Legislation.

Our Polk pubic schools have approximately 200 classroom teachers with 100% of our teachers having met the highly-qualified-standard in 2005 – 20% above the NC state average. Nearly 50% of our staff holds graduate degrees ranking Our Polk third when compared to the other 115 school systems in North Carolina.

In our temperate climate, Polk County Public Schools are closed an average of four days a year due to inclement weather.

College and Universities within 30 miles of Our Polk include Isothermal Community College, Blue Ridge Community College in North Carolina, and Spartanburg Technical College, University of South Carolina Upstate, Converse College, and Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina.