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Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at Purnell Swett High this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,583
High
DISTRICT 1,090 · STATE 761
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF ROBESON COUNTY·NCES 370393002102
Purnell Swett High
11344 Deep Branch Road, Pembroke, NC 28372 · (910) 521-3253 · Robeson County
GRADES 09–12HIGH41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,583 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 12% of North Carolina public high schools
- DTest 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 high schools
Student : Teacher
18.2:1
87 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.1:1 · STATE 19.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
99%
1,575 students
DISTRICT 98% · 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 | 513 | 32% |
| Grade 10 | 388 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 335 | 21% |
| Grade 12 | 347 | 22% |
Student demographics
37%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 75% · 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
22.7%
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 23 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
27.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.5%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-20.6pp
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 Purnell Swett High
Purnell Swett High's state test result (27.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purnell Swett High this school | 1,583 | 99.5% | 27.9% |
| Cherokee Central High School Cherokee | 693 | 99.6% | N/A |
| Lumberton Senior High Lumberton | 1,894 | 98.8% | 31.9% |
| Fairmont High Fairmont | 780 | 99.6% | 25.6% |
| East Columbus Junior-Senior High Lake Waccamaw | 576 | 99.5% | 32.9% |
| Richmond Senior High Rockingham | 1,365 | 99.4% | 22.5% |
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 Purnell Swett High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina | In Robeson County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 27.9% | #412 of 468 | #5 of 6 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 22.7% | #353 of 464 | #5 of 6 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 35.9% | #406 of 448 | #6 of 6 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,583 | #79 of 598 | #2 of 6 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.2:1 | #214 of 473 | #5 of 6 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 36.9% | #428 of 474 | #6 of 6 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 99.5% | #127 of 527 | #3 of 6 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -3.7% | #227 of 277 | N/A |
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
1,583
-45 (-3%) vs 2020
0% since 1990-91, when it was 1,577
Student : Teacher
18.2:1
was 17.5:1
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 | 1,583 | 87 | 18.2:1 | 99% (1,575) |
| 2023-24 | 1,604 | 90.3 | 17.8:1 | 100% (1,596) |
| 2022-23 | 1,608 | 92.5 | 17.4:1 | 100% (1,601) |
| 2020-21 | 1,628 | 93 | 17.5:1 | 100% (1,625) |
| 2017-18 | 1,644 | 93.2 | 17.6:1 | 98% (1,604) |
| 2015-16 | 1,781 | 95 | 18.8:1 | 100% (1,778) |
| 2010-11 | 1,648 | 99 | 16.6:1 | 70% (1,148) |
| 2000-01 | 1,510 | 98 | 15.4:1 | 59% (897) |
| 1990-91 | 1,577 | 92 | 17.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Purnell Swett High.
Since 2017-18: students down 4% (1,644 to 1,583); teachers down 7% (93.2 to 87).
About Purnell Swett High
Purnell Swett High, located in Pembroke, North Carolina, is a high-enrollment high school. Enrollment in 2024-25 was 1,583 students in grades 9 through 12. Against the 761-student average for high schools in North Carolina, enrollment here is 108% higher.
Purnell Swett High is one school in a 36-school district, Public Schools of Robeson County, which enrolls 20,856 students.
Roughly 79% of students at Purnell Swett High are Native American. Other groups make up 9% Black, 5% Hispanic, 4% multiracial, and 2% White. Pick two students at random and there is a 37% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
Staffing totals 87 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 18.2:1. On average, high schools in North Carolina have 19.6:1, compared with 18.2:1 here. The free or reduced-price lunch rate at Purnell Swett High is 99%. That tracks the 98% average for public schools in Robeson County.
Measured against North Carolina public high schools, Purnell Swett High receives a D. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Purnell Swett 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 48.5%. The school's actual rate is 27.9%, 20.6 points lower.
Purnell Swett High is located in Robeson County, where the median household income is $41,978, about 15% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 21%. Besides Purnell Swett High, Robeson County has 39 other public schools.
The nearest other public school, Pembroke Middle, is about 2.5 miles away. Inside a five-mile radius, there are 6 other public schools. Compared with its nearest neighbors, Purnell Swett High ranks 6th of 7 on average proficiency.
Under the NCES locale system, Purnell Swett High is Rural: Fringe.
Enrollment has fallen by 45 students since 2020-21, to 1,583.
Threads on this page can be about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Robeson County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
116,902
Census ACS
Median income
$41,978
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
15%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
21%
Below federal line
Schools in county
40
21,625 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Public Schools of Robeson County
- Lumberton Senior HighHigh · 1,894 students
- Saint Pauls HighHigh · 1,142 students
- Red Springs HighHigh · 867 students
- Fairmont HighHigh · 780 students
- Magnolia ElementaryElementary · 779 students
- Prospect ElementaryElementary · 775 students
Other schools in Pembroke
- Pembroke ElementaryElementary · 703 students
- Pembroke MiddleMiddle · 645 students
- Union Chapel ElementaryElementary · 442 students
- Old Main STREAM AcademyElementary · 437 students
- CIS AcademyMiddle · 114 students
Nearby schools
- Pembroke Middle2.5 mi · 645
- CIS Academy2.5 mi · 114
- Prospect Elementary2.6 mi · 775
- Old Main STREAM Academy2.8 mi · 437
- Pembroke Elementary3.4 mi · 703
- Union Elementary4.2 mi · 351
Frequently asked questions
About Purnell Swett HighHow large is Purnell Swett High?
Purnell Swett High enrolls approximately 1,583 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Purnell Swett High serve?
Purnell Swett High serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
How many students per teacher at Purnell Swett High?
Approximately 18.2:1 students per teacher at Purnell Swett High.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Purnell Swett High?
At Purnell Swett High, the student body is approximately 2% White, 5% Hispanic, 9% Black, 0% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Is Purnell Swett High public or private?
Purnell Swett High is a public K-12 school, overseen by Public Schools of Robeson County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.