1
Enrollment
702
Middle
DISTRICT 679 · STATE 605
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WINSTON SALEM / FORSYTH COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370150000625
Northwest Middle
5501 Murray Road, Winston Salem, NC 27106 · (336) 703-4161 · Forsyth County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL702 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 4% of North Carolina public middle 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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
14.5:1
48 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.2:1 · STATE 15.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
100%
699 students
DISTRICT 90% · 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 | 218 | 31% |
| Grade 7 | 217 | 31% |
| Grade 8 | 267 | 38% |
Student demographics
64%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 72% · 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
24.6%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
29.1%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 25 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 29 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
27.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.4%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-20.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 28% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 48% 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 Northwest Middle
Northwest Middle's state test result (27.6% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwest Middle this school | 702 | 99.6% | 27.6% |
| Williston Middle Wilmington | 666 | 99.5% | 28.4% |
| George L Carrington Middle Durham | 771 | 99.6% | 42.5% |
| Flat Rock Middle Winston-Salem | 674 | 99.6% | 23.3% |
| Sampson Middle Clinton | 703 | 99.6% | 43.4% |
| Brogden Middle Durham | 753 | 99.5% | 33.7% |
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 Northwest Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Forsyth County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 27.6% | #444 of 463 | #12 of 15 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 29.1% | #417 of 461 | #9 of 15 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 24.6% | #455 of 463 | #12 of 15 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 702 | #158 of 478 | #11 of 16 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.5:1 | #96 of 456 | #5 of 15 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.4% | #189 of 456 | #8 of 15 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 99.6% | #53 of 472 | #8 of 16 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -25.7% | #41 of 300 | #6 of 9 |
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
702
-180 (-20%) vs 2020
-7% since 1990-91, when it was 753
Student : Teacher
14.5:1
was 16.3:1
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 | 702 | 48.3 | 14.5:1 | 100% (699) |
| 2023-24 | 759 | 51.5 | 14.7:1 | 100% (756) |
| 2022-23 | 887 | 49.5 | 17.9:1 | 100% (884) |
| 2020-21 | 882 | 54 | 16.3:1 | 100% (879) |
| 2017-18 | 945 | 61.4 | 15.4:1 | 99% (933) |
| 2015-16 | 950 | 63 | 15.1:1 | 99% (938) |
| 2010-11 | 890 | 65 | 13.7:1 | 68% (608) |
| 2000-01 | 1,028 | 62 | 16.6:1 | 24% (250) |
| 1990-91 | 753 | 38 | 19.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Northwest Middle.
Since 2017-18: students down 26% (945 to 702); teachers down 21% (61.4 to 48.3).
About Northwest Middle
Northwest Middle is a medium-sized middle-grades school in Winston Salem, North Carolina, (ZIP code 27106). Enrollment in 2024-25 was 702 students in grades 6 through 8.
Northwest Middle is among 79 schools run by Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools, which serves 51,745 students.
By race and ethnicity, the largest group at Northwest Middle is Hispanic (43%). Other groups include 40% Black, 10% White, and 5% multiracial. The county population is about 15% Hispanic. Northwest Middle has a diversity index of 64%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Northwest Middle operates with 48.3 full-time-equivalent teachers, a ratio of about 14.5:1. For comparison, middle schools in North Carolina average 15.9:1. About 100% of students at the school meet free or reduced-price lunch income limits. The gap from the 88% average for public schools in Forsyth County is 12 points.
allk12 grades Northwest Middle an F. The grade compares the school only with North Carolina public middle schools, because each state gives its own test.
Northwest Middle ranks in the bottom 10% of North Carolina schools after adjusting test results for student poverty. Actual: 27.6%. Predicted: 48.4%. Difference: 20.9 points.
Census Bureau estimates for Forsyth County show that median household income is about $67,165, roughly 39% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Northwest Middle is one of 88 public schools in Forsyth County, which together enroll about 55,902 students.
Nearest public school: Gibson Elementary, about 0.4 miles away. The five-mile area around Northwest Middle holds at least 8 other public schools. Local comparison: Northwest Middle ranks 4th of 6 nearby schools, at 27.6% versus a 38.4% average.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as City: Large, meaning it is inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
Northwest Middle saw enrollment fall 20% between 2020-21 and 2024-25. The ratio was 16.3:1 in 2020-21 and 14.5:1 in 2024-25.
Threads on this page can be about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Forsyth County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
389,977
Census ACS
Median income
$67,165
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
88
55,902 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools
- West Forsyth HighHigh · 2,145 students
- Ronald W Reagan High SchoolHigh · 2,122 students
- R J Reynolds HighHigh · 1,759 students
- East Forsyth HighHigh · 1,647 students
- Parkland HighHigh · 1,569 students
- Mount Tabor High SchoolHigh · 1,426 students
Other schools in Winston Salem
- R J Reynolds HighHigh · 1,759 students
- Parkland HighHigh · 1,569 students
- Mount Tabor High SchoolHigh · 1,426 students
- North Forsyth Magnet HighHigh · 1,084 students
- Hanes Magnet SchoolMiddle · 967 students
- Speas ElementaryElementary · 793 students
Other Northwest Middle schools
13 other US public schools in 11 states are named Northwest Middle. Northwest Middle is the 7th largest of the 14.
- Northwest Middle SchoolFlowood, MS · 1,352 students
- Northwest Middle SchoolCoralville, IA · 1,113 students
- Northwest Middle SchoolReading, PA · 821 students
- Northwest Middle SchoolKnoxville, TN · 798 students
- Northwest MiddleTravelers Rest, SC · 783 students
Nearby schools
- Gibson Elementary0.4 mi · 589
- Forsyth Academy1.6 mi · 729
- Kingswood School1.8 mi · 9
- North Forsyth Magnet High1.9 mi · 1,084
- Old Town Elementary2.4 mi · 617
- The Special Children's School3.0 mi · 98
Frequently asked questions
About Northwest MiddleHow large is Northwest Middle?
Northwest Middle enrolls approximately 702 students in grades 06-08.
Is Northwest Middle an elementary, middle, or high school?
Northwest Middle is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Northwest Middle have?
Northwest Middle employs 48 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.5:1.
What is the student diversity at Northwest Middle?
Student demographics at Northwest Middle are roughly 10% White, 43% Hispanic, 40% Black, 1% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is Northwest Middle public or private?
Northwest Middle is a public K-12 school, overseen by Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.