The Henderson County Public School system continually ranks among the top ten North Carolina school systems for elementary, middle, and high schools. The system is the 27^th largest school district in the state and second largest in Western North Carolina. It consists of 23 schools located throughout the county - 13 elementary schools, 4 middle schools, 4 high schools, 1 education center, and 1 early college high school. With more than 2,000 employees, 900 of which are teaching staff, Henderson County Public Schools is the largest employer in Henderson County. The average class size in kindergarten through 8^th grade is 18.2 students. Through investments in high quality teachers, innovative teaching tools, and state of the art academic facilities, public school system students are afforded an opportunity to pursue scholastic excellence.