Middle Schools in Edgecombe County Public Schools

In Edgecombe County Public Schools, all five middle schools serve grades 6 through 8 and enroll a combined 1,263 students in a high-poverty district ranked 215th out of 246 North Carolina districts. The schools share nearly identical poverty levels—roughly 97% to 99% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch—yet academic results vary widely. South Edgecombe Middle is the clear standout, with a 53.9% average EOG proficiency, a 44th-percentile state ranking, and consecutive years of improvement. By contrast, J W Parker Middle sits near the bottom of the state at the 2nd percentile, with just 19.6% average proficiency and an alarming 60.9% chronic absenteeism rate—almost 37 points above the state average.

Among the other three schools, West Edgecombe Middle shows the most promise, posting a 41.9% average proficiency and beating the district average in six of seven EOG subject/grade tests. Its 8th-grade science proficiency jumped 22 points to 67.1%, nearly matching the state average, and its 8th-grade reading and math also improved sharply. W A Pattillo Middle is a middle-of-the-pack school at 34.4% average proficiency, with large swings in reading scores year to year. Phillips Middle, the smallest school with just 118 students, has the lowest chronic absenteeism rate in the district but saw its average proficiency drop from 34.6% to 29.3%, including a collapse in 8th-grade math to just 6.3% proficiency.

District-wide, every subject/grade combination trails the North Carolina average by roughly 17 to 24 points. The weakest area is 8th-grade math, with only about 1 in 15 students proficient at J W Parker and Phillips. The relative strength is 8th-grade science, where West Edgecombe and South Edgecombe both approach the state average. Notably, spending and class size do not align with results: South Edgecombe has the lowest per-student spending but the highest proficiency, while Phillips has the highest spending and lowest ratio but poor outcomes. The big takeaway for parents is that while poverty and absenteeism are serious challenges district-wide, South Edgecombe Middle proves significantly higher achievement is possible in this county, and J W Parker Middle deserves urgent attention for its attendance and academic crisis.