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Polk County Schools remains one of the elite school districts in North Carolina according to Niche.com’s national ranking.

For the fourth consecutive year, Niche has ranked Polk County Schools as the second-best school district in North Carolina. Niche uses a proprietary rating system to rank all districts and schools across the United States.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools ranked as the state’s top district.

In the Niche ratings, Polk County Schools finished as best overall among the state’s 117 districts for school safety, best teachers and best place to work. It is the third straight year the school district has led all those rankings.

Asheville City Schools (13) and Buncombe County Schools (16) were the only other western North Carolina school districts in the top 20.

“Any success we achieve results from the tremendous efforts of our staff, hard work by our students and support and involvement from our families and community,” said Polk County Schools Superintendent Aaron Greene.

Every Polk County school received an A or A- grade in Niche’s proprietary rating. The district is ranked in the top four percent of all public school districts nationally.