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What's the biggest difference between Chase Middle School and what you expected?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
484
Middle
DISTRICT 526 · STATE 605
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·RUTHERFORD COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370408001283
Chase Middle School
840 Chase High Rd, Forest City, NC 28043 · (828) 247-1043 · Rutherford County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL484 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 76% of North Carolina public middle schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded North Carolina public middle schools
Student : Teacher
18.2:1
27 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 19.0:1 · STATE 15.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
97%
470 students
DISTRICT 97% · STATE 82%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 150 | 31% |
| Grade 7 | 171 | 35% |
| Grade 8 | 163 | 34% |
Student demographics
48%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 50% · STATE 71% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
NC EOG / EOC 2024-25 . % Grade Level Proficient (Level 3+)English Language Arts
59.0%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
54.1%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 59 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 54 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all North Carolina schools, those numbers are about 51 and 52.
Source: NC EOG / EOC. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
58.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
49.2%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+9.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 58% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 49% typical for North Carolina schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among North Carolina's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Chase Middle School
Chase Middle School's state test result (58.3% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Middle School this school | 484 | 97.1% | 58.3% |
| Brevard Middle Brevard | 472 | 99.4% | 54.5% |
| East Alexander Middle Hiddenite | 510 | 98.8% | 53.5% |
| Owen Middle Swannanoa | 457 | 96.7% | 42.4% |
| Polk County Middle School Mill Spring | 454 | 99.3% | 60.9% |
| Tyro Middle Lexington | 528 | 98.5% | 50.0% |
Matched among North Carolina middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Chase Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 58.3% | #144 of 463 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 54.1% | #182 of 461 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 59.0% | #116 of 463 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 484 | #315 of 478 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.2:1 | #382 of 456 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 47.6% | #369 of 456 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 97.1% | #330 of 472 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -14.2% | #125 of 300 |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
484
-53 (-10%) vs 2020
-29% since 2000-01, when it was 683
Student : Teacher
18.2:1
was 16.8:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 484 | 26.6 | 18.2:1 | 97% (470) |
| 2023-24 | 481 | 27.5 | 17.5:1 | 99% (478) |
| 2022-23 | 501 | 35.4 | 14.2:1 | 99% (497) |
| 2020-21 | 537 | 32 | 16.8:1 | 99% (534) |
| 2017-18 | 564 | 36.5 | 15.4:1 | 99% (560) |
| 2015-16 | 634 | 40 | 15.8:1 | 97% (617) |
| 2010-11 | 697 | 42 | 16.6:1 | 65% (456) |
| 2000-01 | 683 | 45 | 15.2:1 | 40% (271) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Chase Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 14% (564 to 484); teachers down 27% (36.5 to 26.6).
About Chase Middle School
As a low-enrollment middle school, Chase Middle School serves students in Forest City, North Carolina. It had 484 students in 2024-25, spanning grades 6 through 8.
Rutherford County Schools is made up of 18 schools with 7,394 students in all.
More than half of enrollment at Chase Middle School is White: 70%. Other groups make up 17% Hispanic, 7% multiracial, and 6% Black. Rutherford County as a whole is about 82% White, so the school's share is lower. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Chase Middle School scores 48%.
Chase Middle School lists 26.6 full-time-equivalent teachers; that is about 18.2 students per teacher. By comparison, the average for middle schools in North Carolina is 15.9:1. About 97% of students at Chase Middle School are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The figure for public schools in Rutherford County is close, at 98%.
Chase Middle School earns an A- on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 76% of North Carolina public middle schools.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Chase Middle School falls in the middle 80% of North Carolina schools: 58.3% actual against 49.2% predicted.
Census data for Rutherford County show median household income comes to about $51,410, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 22%, and roughly 13% of residents are in poverty. The county has 20 public schools and about 9,205 students.
Chase High School, about 1.4 miles away, is the closest public school. Counting only straight-line distance, 6 other public schools are within five miles. Of the 7 nearby schools with scores, including this one, Chase Middle School is 5th on average proficiency.
Locale data from NCES put Chase Middle School in rural territory close to an urban area (Rural: Fringe).
Federal enrollment counts fell from 537 (2020-21) to 484 (2024-25). Federal data show the ratio rising from 16.8:1 to 18.2:1.
This community page is for conversations about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Rutherford County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
64,930
Census ACS
Median income
$51,410
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
22%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
13%
Below federal line
Schools in county
20
9,205 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Rutherford County Schools
- R-S Central High SchoolHigh · 763 students
- East Rutherford High SchoolHigh · 623 students
- Chase High SchoolHigh · 596 students
- Ellenboro Elementary SchoolElementary · 567 students
- R-S Middle SchoolMiddle · 561 students
- East Rutherford Middle SchoolMiddle · 533 students
Other schools in Forest City
- Chase High SchoolHigh · 596 students
- Forrest W. Hunt Elementary SchoolElementary · 460 students
- Forest City-Dunbar Elementary SchoolElementary · 459 students
- Harris Elementary SchoolElementary · 434 students
- Mt. Vernon-Ruth Elementary SchoolElementary · 231 students
- Rutherford Opportunity CenterHigh · 82 students
Other Chase Middle schools
2 other US public schools in 3 states are named Chase Middle. Chase Middle School is the 2nd largest of the 3.
- Chase Middle SchoolSpokane, WA · 685 students
- Chase Middle SchoolTopeka, KS · 390 students
Nearby schools
- Chase High School1.4 mi · 596
- Forrest W. Hunt Elementary School2.2 mi · 460
- Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy2.9 mi · 1,330
- Harris Elementary School3.0 mi · 434
- Rutherford Opportunity Center4.2 mi · 82
- Cliffside Elementary School4.7 mi · 188
Frequently asked questions
About Chase Middle SchoolHow many students attend Chase Middle School?
Chase Middle School enrolls approximately 484 students in grades 06-08.
Is Chase Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Chase Middle School is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Chase Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Chase Middle School is approximately 18.2:1 (27 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Chase Middle School?
Chase Middle School reports a student body of 70% White, 17% Hispanic, 6% Black, 7% Two or more.
What district is Chase Middle School in?
Chase Middle School is part of Rutherford County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.