Best Middle Schools in Spring Lake, NC

The city of Spring Lake, North Carolina, is home to two public middle schools — Overhills Middle and Spring Lake Middle — both serving grades 6 through 8 but belonging to different districts: Harnett County Schools and Cumberland County Schools. Looking at the most recent data, both schools rank in the bottom quarter of North Carolina middle schools. Overhills Middle is the higher-performing school overall, ranking 597 out of 778 statewide (23rd percentile) and earning a 1-star rating after a slip from 2 stars the year before. Spring Lake Middle ranks lower at 641 out of 778 (18th percentile) and has consistently held a 1-star rating for three straight years. Overhills also has a lower rate of chronic absenteeism (30.8% vs. 45.4%) and serves a less economically disadvantaged population, with 63.1% of students eligible for free/reduced lunch compared to 98.8% at Spring Lake.

On overall EOG proficiency, Overhills leads Spring Lake by a small margin — 44.4% proficient versus 41.4% in the 2025–2026 school year. Overhills is significantly stronger in 6th- and 7th-grade math and reading, with gaps sometimes exceeding 10 percentage points. However, the pattern flips in 8th grade: Spring Lake outscored Overhills in 8th-grade math (40.0% vs. 29.6%), 8th-grade reading (47.9% vs. 40.6%), and 8th-grade science (63.3% vs. 57.7%). This suggests some grade-level or cohort dynamics at play. Both schools are below the state average in every subject and grade, but science stands out as a relative strength; Spring Lake’s 8th-grade science proficiency is just 5.3 points below the state average, the closest either school gets to the state benchmark.

Resource spending does not cleanly predict performance. Spring Lake spends more per student ($9,881 vs. $7,678) and has a better student–teacher ratio (13.9 vs. 15.7), yet still trails Overhills in overall proficiency — likely because Spring Lake faces far higher levels of poverty and absenteeism. Overhills has slipped backward in recent years, from the 30th percentile in 2023–2024 down to the 23rd percentile in 2025–2026, while Spring Lake has remained stuck near the bottom with a steady, low ranking. For parents, the key distinction is simple: Overhills is the safer overall choice academically, but Spring Lake’s 8th-grade results show that it can compete in specific subjects despite the odds.