Phillips Middle

Located at 606 N Estes Dr, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Phillips Middle is a mid-tier 6-8 campus that educates 600 students (grades 6 through 8), operated by Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools runs 20 schools in total, collectively educating 11,392 students. Phillips Middle is one of those campuses.

On the student-mix side, Phillips Middle reports that 45% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups; the rest is composed of 22% Asian, 14% Black, 10% Hispanic, 9% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 69% White, putting the school's mix noticeably less White than the area baseline.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 52 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 11.4:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 15.9:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 27% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Orange County (around 40%), the school's rate is meaningfully below typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Phillips Middle sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 70.6%; this one delivers 72.0%.

Across the wider county, Orange County reports that median household earnings sit near $90,089, roughly 62% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Phillips Middle is one of 38 public schools in Orange County (combined enrollment of about 19,582 students).

Estes Hills Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.2 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Phillips Middle. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Phillips Middle ranks 5th on composite proficiency, higher than the local average of 69.9%.

Geographically, the school is in a downtown area.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 11%: 677 students in 2018 compared to 600 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 13.1:1 in 2018 to 11.4:1 today.

On this page, members of the Phillips Middle community share and discuss pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.