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Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at Highland Middle this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
762
Middle
DISTRICT 709 · STATE 605
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HARNETT COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370201003309
Highland Middle
345 Highland School Rd, Sanford, NC 27332 · (919) 498-3331 · Harnett County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL762 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 31% of North Carolina public middle schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-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
15.4:1
50 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.4:1 · STATE 15.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
64%
487 students
DISTRICT 76% · 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 | 262 | 34% |
| Grade 7 | 259 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 241 | 32% |
Student demographics
70%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 71% · 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
42.5%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
45.9%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 43 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 46 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
46.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
59.3%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-12.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 47% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 59% 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 Highland Middle
Highland Middle's state test result (46.9% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Middle this school | 762 | 63.9% | 46.9% |
| Western Harnett Middle Lillington | 700 | 55.6% | 47.2% |
| Southern Alamance Middle Graham | 822 | 58.2% | 41.7% |
| Hawfields Middle Mebane | 864 | 56.0% | 65.0% |
| Western Alamance Middle Elon | 837 | 55.0% | 44.4% |
| Carroll Middle Raleigh | 898 | 61.1% | 45.5% |
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 Highland Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Harnett County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 46.9% | #276 of 463 | #2 of 6 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 45.9% | #268 of 461 | #3 of 6 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 42.5% | #308 of 463 | #5 of 6 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 762 | #123 of 478 | #2 of 6 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.4:1 | #160 of 456 | #3 of 6 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 70.1% | #60 of 456 | #2 of 6 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 63.9% | #351 of 472 | #4 of 6 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -15.3% | #109 of 300 | N/A |
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
762
-209 (-22%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
was 18.0:1
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 | 762 | 49.5 | 15.4:1 | 64% (487) |
| 2023-24 | 803 | 51.1 | 15.7:1 | 65% (524) |
| 2022-23 | 875 | 56.2 | 15.6:1 | 64% (562) |
| 2020-21 | 971 | 54 | 18.0:1 | 41% (400) |
| 2017-18 | 900 | 50.9 | 17.7:1 | 54% (488) |
| 2015-16 | 898 | 49 | 18.3:1 | 58% (517) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Highland Middle.
Since 2017-18: students down 15% (900 to 762); teachers down 3% (50.9 to 49.5).
About Highland Middle
Highland Middle is a public middle school run by Harnett County Schools in Sanford, North Carolina. The school teaches grades 6 through 8 and enrolls 762 students. The school is 26% above the average for middle schools in North Carolina.
Highland Middle belongs to Harnett County Schools, a district of 29 schools and 20,095 students.
The largest racial or ethnic group at Highland Middle is White, with 42% of students. Other groups make up 29% Hispanic, 18% Black, and 9% multiracial. Harnett County as a whole is about 62% White, so the school's share is lower. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 70%.
A staff of 49.5 full-time-equivalent teachers puts the student-to-teacher ratio at 15.4:1. It is about the same as the 15.9:1 average for middle schools in North Carolina. The share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 64%. By comparison, the figure for public schools in Harnett County is 74%.
Highland Middle earns a C on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 31% of North Carolina public middle schools.
On BeatsExpectations, Highland Middle is 12.4 points below its prediction, a result in the middle 80% of North Carolina schools.
American Community Survey estimates for Harnett County show that the median household earns about $71,287 a year, about 25% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 11% of residents are in poverty. Harnett County has 31 public schools with about 20,611 students, including Highland Middle.
The closest school to Highland Middle is Highland Elementary, located about 0.2 miles away. In all, 6 other public schools sit within five miles of Highland Middle. Of 8 schools in the immediate area with test results, Highland Middle ranks 5th on average proficiency.
For locale, NCES codes Highland Middle as Rural: Fringe.
The school shrank from 971 students in 2020-21 to 762 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, the student-to-teacher ratio was 18.0:1; by 2024-25 it was 15.4:1.
People can post here about homework, tutoring, and testing dates and other school topics. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Harnett County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
139,150
Census ACS
Median income
$71,287
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
25%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
31
20,611 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Harnett County Schools
- Overhills HighHigh · 1,981 students
- Harnett Central HighHigh · 1,522 students
- Western Harnett HighHigh · 1,324 students
- Triton HighHigh · 1,274 students
- Benhaven ElementaryElementary · 1,065 students
- Harnett Central MiddleMiddle · 1,059 students
Other schools in Sanford
- Lee County HighHigh · 1,459 students
- Southern Lee High SchoolHigh · 1,180 students
- Benhaven ElementaryElementary · 1,065 students
- Highland ElementaryElementary · 854 students
- SanLee Middle SchoolMiddle · 792 students
- Ascend Leadership Academy: Lee CountyHigh · 628 students
Other Highland Middle schools
17 other US public schools in 13 states are named Highland Middle. Highland Middle is the 5th largest of the 18.
- Highland Middle SchoolAnderson, IN · 916 students
- Highland Middle SchoolMedina, OH · 824 students
- HIGHLAND MIDDLE SCHOOLHOBBS, NM · 808 students
- Highland Middle SchoolHighland, IN · 774 students
- Highland Middle SchoolSpokane, WA · 704 students
Nearby schools
- Highland Elementary0.2 mi · 854
- Benhaven Elementary3.3 mi · 1,065
- Johnsonville Elementary3.4 mi · 489
- Western Harnett Middle3.6 mi · 700
- Western Harnett High3.9 mi · 1,324
- Anderson Creek Academy4.0 mi · 305
Frequently asked questions
About Highland MiddleHow many students attend Highland Middle?
Highland Middle enrolls approximately 762 students in grades 06-08.
Is Highland Middle an elementary, middle, or high school?
Highland Middle is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Highland Middle?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Highland Middle is approximately 15.4:1 (50 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Highland Middle?
Highland Middle reports a student body of 42% White, 29% Hispanic, 18% Black, 1% Asian, 9% Two or more.
Is Highland Middle public or private?
Highland Middle is a public K-12 school, overseen by Harnett County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.