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If you could change one rule at Kinston High, what would it be?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
659
High
DISTRICT 646 · STATE 761
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·LENOIR COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 370261000585
Kinston High
2601 N Queen St, Kinston, NC 28501 · (252) 527-8067 · Lenoir County
GRADES 09–12HIGH32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL659 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 3% of North Carolina public high schools
- FTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats 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 high schools
Student : Teacher
16.1:1
41 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 19.3:1 · STATE 19.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
99%
653 students
DISTRICT 99% · STATE 82%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 171 | 26% |
| Grade 10 | 176 | 27% |
| Grade 11 | 182 | 28% |
| Grade 12 | 130 | 20% |
Student demographics
24%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 66% · 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
35.9%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
14.0%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 36 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 14 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of NC schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
21.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.6%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-27.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 22% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 49% typical for North Carolina schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Kinston High
Kinston High's state test result (21.5% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kinston High this school | 659 | 99.1% | 21.5% |
| Washington County High Plymouth | 450 | 99.3% | 25.5% |
| Hertford County High Ahoskie | 447 | 99.3% | 23.8% |
| Bertie High Windsor | 449 | 99.3% | 27.0% |
| Goldsboro High Goldsboro | 412 | 97.6% | 22.4% |
| Tarboro High Tarboro | 496 | 99.4% | 11.5% |
Matched among North Carolina high 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 Kinston High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 21.5% | #453 of 468 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 14.0% | #434 of 464 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 35.9% | #405 of 448 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 659 | #295 of 598 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.1:1 | #110 of 473 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 23.9% | #467 of 474 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 99.1% | #187 of 527 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.7% | #162 of 277 |
Ranked against other public high 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
659
+27 (+4%) vs 2020
-39% since 2000-01, when it was 1,079
Student : Teacher
16.1:1
was 15.4:1
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 | 659 | 41 | 16.1:1 | 99% (653) |
| 2023-24 | 706 | 38.3 | 18.4:1 | 100% (703) |
| 2022-23 | 713 | 41 | 17.4:1 | 100% (710) |
| 2020-21 | 632 | 41 | 15.4:1 | 100% (629) |
| 2017-18 | 714 | 45 | 15.9:1 | 98% (698) |
| 2015-16 | 788 | 52 | 15.2:1 | 100% (785) |
| 2010-11 | 916 | 58 | 15.8:1 | 76% (695) |
| 2000-01 | 1,079 | 98 | 11.0:1 | 32% (340) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Kinston High.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (714 to 659); teachers down 9% (45 to 41).
About Kinston High
Kinston High is a high school in Kinston, North Carolina, and it is part of Lenoir County Public Schools. Enrollment is 659 students in 2024-25, and the school serves grades 9 through 12.
Lenoir County Public Schools counts 17 schools and 8,331 students, including Kinston High.
The large majority of students at Kinston High, 87%, are Black. The remaining shares are 5% Hispanic, 4% multiracial, and 2% White. Lenoir County as a whole is about 39% Black, so the school's share is higher. By the diversity index, Kinston High comes in at 24%.
Kinston High counts 41 full-time-equivalent teachers, about 16.1 students for each one. Among high schools in North Carolina, the typical ratio is 19.6:1. About 99% of enrolled students meet the income rules for free or reduced-price lunch. Across public schools in Lenoir County, the average is about the same, 99%.
Kinston High is graded F by allk12, scoring above 3% of North Carolina public high schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Kinston High is in the bottom 10% of North Carolina schools on the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure. Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the model predicts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 48.6%. The school's actual rate is 21.5%, 27.1 points lower.
Census Bureau estimates for Lenoir County show that median household income is about $45,143, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 16%, and about 17% of people live in poverty. A total of 18 public schools operate in Lenoir County, serving about 8,480 students.
The next-closest public school is Northeast Elementary, about 1.3 miles away. In all, 7 other public schools sit within five miles of Kinston High. In a group of 8 nearby schools with scores, Kinston High ranks 8th on average proficiency.
The school is in a town some distance from an urbanized area, according to its NCES locale (Town: Distant).
Federal counts put enrollment at 632 in 2020-21 and 659 in 2024-25, a 4% rise.
Discussion on this page can cover sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Lenoir County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
54,919
Census ACS
Median income
$45,143
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
16%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
17%
Below federal line
Schools in county
18
8,480 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Lenoir County Public Schools
- North Lenoir HighHigh · 957 students
- Contentnea-Savannah SchoolElementary · 789 students
- South Lenoir HighHigh · 721 students
- Woodington MiddleMiddle · 584 students
- La Grange ElementaryElementary · 547 students
- Rochelle MiddleMiddle · 517 students
Other schools in Kinston
- Contentnea-Savannah SchoolElementary · 789 students
- Woodington MiddleMiddle · 584 students
- Rochelle MiddleMiddle · 517 students
- Northwest ElementaryElementary · 504 students
- Northeast ElementaryElementary · 465 students
- Banks ElementaryElementary · 436 students
Nearby schools
- Northeast Elementary1.3 mi · 465
- Northwest Elementary2.0 mi · 504
- Children's Village Academy2.0 mi · 149
- Rochelle Middle2.4 mi · 517
- Southeast Elementary2.6 mi · 326
- Contentnea-Savannah School3.4 mi · 789
Frequently asked questions
About Kinston HighWhat is the total enrollment at Kinston High?
Kinston High enrolls approximately 659 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Kinston High serve?
Kinston High serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
How many teachers does Kinston High have?
Kinston High employs 41 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.1:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Kinston High?
At Kinston High, the student body is approximately 2% White, 5% Hispanic, 87% Black, 1% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Is Kinston High public or private?
Kinston High is a public K-12 school, overseen by Lenoir County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.