1
If you could change one rule at Neal Middle, what would it be?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
706
Middle
DISTRICT 607 · STATE 605
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DURHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 370126000544
Neal Middle
201 Baptist Road, Durham, NC 27704 · (919) 560-3955 · Durham County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL706 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 15% 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
14.7:1
48 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.3:1 · STATE 15.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
100%
703 students
DISTRICT 98% · 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 | 224 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 235 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 247 | 35% |
Student demographics
57%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 70% · 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
32.7%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
32.8%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 33 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 33 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
35.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.4%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-13.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 35% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 48% 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 Neal Middle
Neal Middle's state test result (35.1% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neal Middle this school | 706 | 99.6% | 35.1% |
| Mineral Springs Middle Winston Salem | 702 | 99.6% | 20.0% |
| Graham Middle Graham | 553 | 99.5% | 20.1% |
| Brogden Middle Durham | 753 | 99.5% | 33.7% |
| Northwest Middle Winston Salem | 702 | 99.6% | 27.6% |
| Smithfield Middle Smithfield | 573 | 98.8% | 34.2% |
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 Neal Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Durham County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 35.1% | #393 of 463 | #7 of 9 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 32.8% | #378 of 461 | #8 of 9 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 32.7% | #414 of 463 | #7 of 9 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 706 | #153 of 478 | #4 of 9 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.7:1 | #106 of 456 | #2 of 9 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 57.4% | #287 of 456 | #8 of 9 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 99.6% | #50 of 472 | #3 of 9 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.6% | #212 of 300 | #4 of 6 |
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
706
-125 (-15%) vs 2020
-5% since 1990-91, when it was 745
Student : Teacher
14.7:1
was 13.2:1
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 | 706 | 47.9 | 14.7:1 | 100% (703) |
| 2023-24 | 770 | 57 | 13.5:1 | 100% (767) |
| 2022-23 | 789 | 56.6 | 13.9:1 | 100% (786) |
| 2020-21 | 831 | 63 | 13.2:1 | 100% (828) |
| 2017-18 | 764 | 57.3 | 13.3:1 | 73% (561) |
| 2015-16 | 784 | 61 | 12.8:1 | 79% (620) |
| 2010-11 | 618 | 39 | 15.8:1 | 79% (490) |
| 2000-01 | 864 | 66 | 13.1:1 | 45% (385) |
| 1990-91 | 745 | 60 | 12.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Neal Middle.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (764 to 706); teachers down 16% (57.3 to 47.9).
About Neal Middle
Durham, North Carolina, is home to Neal Middle, a mid-sized middle-grades school. The school enrolls 706 students in grades 6 through 8.
Federal data list 55 schools in Durham Public Schools, with 31,797 students enrolled.
Hispanic students are 51% of those enrolled at Neal Middle. Next come 40% Black, 4% multiracial, and 3% White. That compares with about 16% Hispanic among all Durham County residents. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 57%.
Neal Middle reported 47.9 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, a ratio of 14.7:1. Middle schools in North Carolina have an average ratio of 15.9:1. Roughly 100% of students at Neal Middle can receive free or reduced-price lunch.
Neal Middle holds a C- allk12 Grade, placing it above 15% of North Carolina public middle schools.
Test results at Neal Middle are 13.3 points below what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (35.1% actual, 48.4% predicted).
Looking at the county, Durham County, the median household earns about $82,316 a year, 55% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 8% of people live in poverty. The county has 74 public schools and about 46,109 students.
Of the public schools around it, Neal Middle is closest to Oak Grove Elementary, about 2.1 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. On average proficiency, Neal Middle is 6th of 7 nearby schools with test data.
NCES lists the school's locale as Suburb: Large. That means it sits in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
The school's student count decreased 15% between the 2020-21 and 2024-25 school years. The school's ratio increased from 13.2:1 to 14.7:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Anyone can start a thread about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures at Neal Middle. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Durham County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
332,353
Census ACS
Median income
$82,316
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
55%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
74
46,109 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Durham Public Schools
- C E Jordan HighHigh · 2,189 students
- Riverside HighHigh · 1,900 students
- Durham School of the ArtsHigh · 1,764 students
- Hillside HighHigh · 1,433 students
- Southern School of Energy and SustainabiHigh · 1,384 students
- Northern HighHigh · 1,281 students
Other schools in Durham
- NC Virtual AcademyCombined · 3,482 students
- North Carolina Cyber AcademyCombined · 2,461 students
- C E Jordan HighHigh · 2,189 students
- Riverside HighHigh · 1,900 students
- Durham School of the ArtsHigh · 1,764 students
- Hillside HighHigh · 1,433 students
Nearby schools
- Oak Grove Elementary2.1 mi · 395
- Spring Valley Elementary2.4 mi · 543
- Southern School of Energy and Sustainabi3.1 mi · 1,384
- Reaching All Minds Academy4.0 mi · 391
- Bethesda Elementary4.1 mi · 442
- Merrick-Moore Elementary4.4 mi · 445
Frequently asked questions
About Neal MiddleHow large is Neal Middle?
Neal Middle enrolls approximately 706 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Neal Middle serve?
Neal Middle serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many teachers does Neal Middle have?
Neal Middle employs 48 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.7:1.
How diverse is Neal Middle?
Neal Middle reports a student body of 3% White, 51% Hispanic, 40% Black, 1% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Who oversees Neal Middle?
Neal Middle is overseen by Durham Public Schools in Durham County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.