Southwest Middle

As a cozy junior high in Jacksonville, North Carolina, Southwest Middle educates 510 students from grades 6 through 8, run under Onslow County Schools.

Across the 39 schools in Onslow County Schools (27,397 students total), Southwest Middle accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

Looking at the student body, Southwest Middle reports that 54% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Other groups include 21% Hispanic, 15% Black, 9% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 67% White, putting the school's mix noticeably less White than the area baseline.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 15.0:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 15.9:1 average. An estimated 62% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, Onslow County runs at roughly 51%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully above the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Southwest Middle sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 59.9%; this one delivers 43.0%.

Around the school, census data for Onslow County shows median household earnings sit near $68,148, 26% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 9%. Across Onslow County's 42 public schools (combined enrollment of about 27,501 students), Southwest Middle is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Southwest High, around 0.6 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Southwest Middle comes 6th of 8 in the immediate cluster, below the nearby-schools average of 51.9%.

The campus sits in a commuter-belt setting.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Southwest Middle has declined 9%, going from 562 students in 2018 to 510 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 13% to 21% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 16.1:1 in 2018 to 15.0:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Members of the school community can share what they know.