Chase Middle School

Chase Middle School is a middle school of small scale in Forest City, North Carolina, run under Rutherford County Schools, educateing 484 students in grades 6 through 8.

Within Rutherford County Schools, which oversees 18 schools and 7,394 students, Chase Middle School is one campus in the system.

Looking at the student body, Chase Middle School shows that the largest single group is White, at 70% of enrollment. The remainder breaks down as 17% Hispanic, 7% multiracial, 6% Black. The wider county runs roughly 82% White, putting the school's mix visibly less White than the area baseline.

In terms of school funding signals, Chase Middle School reports 27 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 18.2:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 15.9:1 average. Roughly 97% of students at Chase Middle School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Chase Middle School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 49.2% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 58.3%.

In the broader community, census data for Rutherford County shows median household income runs about $51,410, roughly 22% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 13%. Chase Middle School is one of 20 public schools in Rutherford County (combined enrollment of about 9,205 students).

Nearest neighbor: Chase High School, around 1.4 miles off. Within five miles, there are 6 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Chase Middle School comes 5th of 7 in the immediate cluster, behind the nearby-schools average of 62.6%.

The school occupies a low-density site.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count fell 14%: 564 students in 2018 compared to 484 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 76% to 70% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio rose from 15.4:1 in 2018 to 18.2:1 today.

Inside the community feed, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. The community welcomes input from current and former families.