CIS Academy

The CIS Academy district is a single-school district in Pembroke, NC, with one middle school — CIS Academy — serving grades 6–8 and 114 students. Because the district and school are the same entity, there are no other schools to compare against; this summary instead focuses on the school's grade-level trends, standout strengths, and areas of concern.

The clearest bright spot is 8th grade. In 2025–2026, CIS Academy's 8th graders exceeded the North Carolina state average in both reading (58.1% proficient vs. 56.1% statewide) and math (54.8% vs. 53.0%), a sharp improvement from the prior year. Reading jumped 17.1 points and math rose 11.2 points, while statewide gains were much smaller. There is also a distinct grade-level pattern at this school: proficiency climbs steadily from 6th to 8th grade in both subjects. That is the opposite of the state trend, where math is actually strongest in 6th grade. At CIS Academy, 8th grade math proficiency (54.8%) was 25.2 points higher than 6th grade math (29.6%), making the older students the school's clear academic leaders.

However, 6th grade remains the biggest red flag, with math proficiency about 30 points below the state average and reading about 21 points below. Science is another consistent weakness: 8th graders improved to 58.1% proficient, but the state moved up too, leaving CIS Academy roughly 10 points behind. Context matters here: 61.4% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch, and chronic absenteeism is 24.3%, meaning about one in four students misses enough school to be considered chronically absent. The school's overall ranking sits in the low 30s percentile statewide. Given that only about 38 students make up each grade, double-digit year-to-year swings should be interpreted cautiously — a few students passing or failing can shift percentages dramatically. Still, the 8th grade results show that students at CIS Academy can perform at or above state averages.