Isaac M Bear Early College High School

Isaac M Bear Early College High School is a high school of one-room-style scale in Wilmington, North Carolina, overseen by New Hanover County Schools, hosting 260 students in grades 9 through 12. That puts it 66% below the typical public school in North Carolina, which averages around 761 students.

Within New Hanover County Schools, which oversees 42 schools and 24,791 students, Isaac M Bear Early College High School is one campus in the system.

On demographics, Isaac M Bear Early College High School logs that White students make up the majority at 62%. The remainder comes out to 18% Hispanic, 9% Asian, 6% multiracial, 4% Black. By comparison, New Hanover County as a whole is about 77% White, so the school skews noticeably less White than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, On paper, Isaac M Bear Early College High School has 11 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 24.8:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 19.6:1, putting Isaac M Bear Early College High School higher than the state norm the norm. Around 26% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is lower than New Hanover County's rate of about 67%.

After controlling for student poverty, Isaac M Bear Early College High School sits in the top 10% of North Carolina schools after the BeatsExpectations adjustment. Predicted proficiency for the school's FRL share is roughly 71.0%; actual is 92.5%, +21.6 points clear of the demographic baseline.

In the area at large, New Hanover County reports that the typical household earns roughly $75,166 per year, 45% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 8%. In all, New Hanover County runs 50 public schools (combined enrollment of about 27,460 students), of which Isaac M Bear Early College High School is one.

Winter Park Model Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.6 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Isaac M Bear Early College High School comes 1st of 6 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 50.4%.

The campus sits in a metropolitan setting.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Isaac M Bear Early College High School has ticked up 15%, going from 227 students in 2018 to 260 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment ticked up from 11% to 18% over that span. Class-load math has loosened: from 22.7:1 in 2018 to 24.8:1 in 2025.

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