Richlands High

Richlands High, a mid-tier high school in Richlands, North Carolina, run under Onslow County Schools, teaches 1,027 students, covering grades 9 through 12. That puts it 35% bigger than the typical public school in North Carolina, which averages around 761 students.

Onslow County Schools comprises 39 schools with combined enrollment of 27,397 students; Richlands High is among them.

On the student-mix side, Richlands High records that White students make up the majority at 67%. Beyond that, the school reports 15% Hispanic, 9% Black, 8% multiracial. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

On the resource side, The school reports having 57 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 18.1:1. The state averages around 19.6:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. About 43% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), On a poverty-adjusted basis, Richlands High sits in the bottom 10% statewide. Predicted proficiency from the FRL regression is roughly 65.6%; actual is 45.0%, a gap of -20.6 points.

Zooming out to the county, community-level numbers for Onslow County indicate median household earnings sit near $68,148, about 26% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 9%. In all, Onslow County runs 42 public schools (combined enrollment of about 27,501 students), of which Richlands High is one.

Nearest neighbor: Heritage Elementary School, around 0.3 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 4 other public schools cluster around Richlands High. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Richlands High at 9th of 9; the average score across the group is 54.5%.

Richlands High operates from a rural location.

Five-year trend. Richlands High's enrollment has grew 13% since 2018, when it stood at 912 (now 1,027). Over the same period, the Black share edged down from 13% to 9%. Class-load math has loosened: from 16.0:1 in 2018 to 18.1:1 in 2025.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.