Central Middle

Set in Whiteville, North Carolina, Central Middle is a low-enrollment middle school, operated by Whiteville City Schools. It instructs 451 students across grades 6 through 8. By comparison, North Carolina's public schools average about 605 students each, so Central Middle sits 25% leaner than that benchmark.

Whiteville City Schools comprises 5 schools with combined enrollment of 2,042 students; Central Middle is among them.

Demographically, Central Middle logs that the most-represented group is Black (43%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups; the rest is composed of 36% White, 14% Hispanic, 6% multiracial. By comparison, Columbus County as a whole is about 28% Black, so the school skews visibly more Black than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, Central Middle reports 27 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 16.6:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 15.9:1, putting Central Middle higher than the state norm the norm. Around 99% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Central Middle tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 48.5% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 49.3%.

In the area at large, the surrounding county (Columbus County) reports that median household income runs about $49,442, roughly 15% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 15% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Columbus County runs 21 public schools (combined enrollment of about 8,386 students), of which Central Middle is one.

North Whiteville Academy is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. 5 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Central Middle comes 3rd of 6 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 51.7%.

The campus sits in a town-based setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 5%: 475 students in 2018 compared to 451 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 44% to 36% across the same window.

On the community side, the feed for Central Middle typically covers sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.