1
Which teacher or staff member at Topsail High deserves more recognition?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,945
High
DISTRICT 885 · STATE 761
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PENDER COUNTY SCHOOLS·NCES 370357001469
Topsail High
245 St. Johns Church Road, Hampstead, NC 28443 · (910) 270-2755 · Pender County
GRADES 09–12HIGH41-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL1,945 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 75% of North Carolina public high schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats 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
29.1:1
67 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 31.0:1 · STATE 19.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
23%
457 students
DISTRICT 82% · 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 | 495 | 25% |
| Grade 10 | 477 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 509 | 26% |
| Grade 12 | 464 | 24% |
Student demographics
31%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · 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
77.4%
NC avg 50.9%
Math
56.7%
NC avg 52.2%
What this means: On the NC EOG / EOC, North Carolina's statewide test, about 77 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 57 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
69.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
71.7%
based on NC schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 70% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 72% 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 Topsail High
Topsail High's state test result (69.7% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topsail High this school | 1,945 | 23.5% | 69.7% |
| North Lincoln High Lincolnton | 1,126 | 25.3% | 53.6% |
| Croatan High Newport | 1,019 | 27.9% | 76.1% |
| Lake Norman High Mooresville | 1,905 | 19.8% | 62.8% |
| Watauga High Boone | 1,289 | 33.0% | 61.8% |
| Union Pines High Cameron | 1,462 | 31.7% | 63.7% |
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 Topsail High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In North Carolina |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 69.7% | #90 of 468 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 56.7% | #100 of 464 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 77.4% | #82 of 448 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,945 | #40 of 598 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 29.1:1 | #447 of 473 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 31.1% | #449 of 474 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 23.5% | #499 of 527 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +31.8% | #17 of 164 |
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
1,945
+433 (+29%) vs 2020
+251% since 1990-91, when it was 554
Student : Teacher
29.1:1
was 21.3:1
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 | 1,945 | 66.9 | 29.1:1 | 23% (457) |
| 2023-24 | 1,888 | 88 | 21.4:1 | 23% (430) |
| 2022-23 | 1,777 | 82.5 | 21.5:1 | 22% (387) |
| 2020-21 | 1,512 | 71 | 21.3:1 | 15% (226) |
| 2017-18 | 1,476 | 74.5 | 19.8:1 | 18% (264) |
| 2015-16 | 1,294 | 72 | 18.0:1 | 25% (329) |
| 2010-11 | 1,052 | 58 | 18.1:1 | 29% (310) |
| 2000-01 | 551 | 43 | 12.8:1 | 18% (97) |
| 1990-91 | 554 | 37 | 15.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Topsail High.
Since 2017-18: students up 32% (1,476 to 1,945); teachers down 10% (74.5 to 66.9).
About Topsail High
Topsail High is a high-enrollment high school based in Hampstead, North Carolina. The school has 1,945 students in 2024-25 across grades 9 through 12. That compares with an average of about 761 students for high schools in North Carolina.
Pender County Schools is the district for Topsail High. It has 19 schools and 11,073 students.
White students are 82% of those enrolled at Topsail High. Next come 8% Hispanic, 6% multiracial, and 3% Black. A diversity index of 31% means there is a 31% chance two randomly chosen students at Topsail High are from different groups.
On staff are 66.9 full-time-equivalent teachers; the student-to-teacher ratio is 29.1:1. High schools in North Carolina average 19.6:1, 9.5 fewer students per teacher than here. Topsail High has a free or reduced-price lunch rate of 23%. That rate is below the 70% average among public schools in Pender County.
Topsail High holds an A- allk12 Grade, placing it above 75% of North Carolina public high schools.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Topsail High is -1.9 points: 69.7% actual, 71.7% predicted.
In the wider Pender County area, the median household earns about $80,396 a year, about 31% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 7%. Topsail High shares Pender County with 18 other public schools.
Topsail High is about 0.2 miles from Topsail Annandale Elementary School, its nearest public school. Topsail High has 4 other public schools within five miles. Topsail High's average proficiency of 69.7% compares with 71.6% for its nearest scored neighbors.
Locale: Rural: Fringe. In NCES terms, the school is in rural territory close to an urban area.
In 2024-25, the school enrolled 1,945, up from 1,512 in 2020-21. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio increased to 29.1:1, from 21.3:1.
This page is set up for the Topsail High community to discuss open houses, carpools, and field trips. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Pender County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
65,550
Census ACS
Median income
$80,396
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
31%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
19
11,073 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Pender County Schools
- Surf City ElementaryElementary · 857 students
- Topsail MiddleMiddle · 837 students
- Surf City MiddleMiddle · 752 students
- Heide Trask HighHigh · 732 students
- Pender HighHigh · 648 students
- South Topsail ElementaryElementary · 618 students
Other schools in Hampstead
- Surf City ElementaryElementary · 857 students
- Topsail MiddleMiddle · 837 students
- Surf City MiddleMiddle · 752 students
- South Topsail ElementaryElementary · 618 students
- Topsail Annandale Elementary SchoolElementary · 580 students
- North Topsail ElementaryElementary · 529 students
Nearby schools
- Topsail Annandale Elementary School0.2 mi · 580
- Topsail Middle0.3 mi · 837
- South Topsail Elementary2.0 mi · 618
- North Topsail Elementary2.6 mi · 529
- American Leadership Academy-Coastal7.5 mi · 1,002
- Surf City Middle7.6 mi · 752
Frequently asked questions
About Topsail HighHow many students attend Topsail High?
Topsail High enrolls approximately 1,945 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Topsail High serve?
Topsail High serves grades 09-12.
How many teachers does Topsail High have?
Topsail High employs 67 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 29.1:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Topsail High?
At Topsail High, the student body is approximately 82% White, 8% Hispanic, 3% Black, 1% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Is Topsail High public or private?
Topsail High is a public K-12 school, overseen by Pender County Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.