Dunn Middle

Set in Dunn, North Carolina, Dunn Middle is a tight-knit middle-grades school, one of the schools within Harnett County Schools. It educates 388 students across grades 6 through 8. Compared to the state average of about 605 students per school, that is 36% below typical.

Across the 29 schools in Harnett County Schools (20,095 students total), Dunn Middle accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On the student-mix side, Dunn Middle reports that 44% of students identify as Black, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups; the rest consists of 33% Hispanic, 18% White, 3% multiracial. That is noticeably more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 20%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Dunn Middle lists 28 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 13.8:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 15.9:1 average. Roughly 99% of students at Dunn Middle qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Harnett County (around 74%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Dunn Middle performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 48.6%, the actual is 43.0%, a residual of -5.6 points.

In the broader community, ACS estimates for Harnett County put median household income runs about $71,287, roughly 25% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 11%. In all, Harnett County runs 31 public schools (combined enrollment of about 20,611 students), of which Dunn Middle is one.

Nearest neighbor: Harnett County Early College, around 1.3 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 5 other public schools cluster around Dunn Middle. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Dunn Middle ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 42.4%.

Dunn Middle operates from a town-center location.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count increased 9%: 355 students in 2018 compared to 388 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment expanded from 17% to 33% over that span.

On the community side, the feed for Dunn Middle typically covers fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.