Public Schools of Robeson County

The Public Schools of Robeson County is a rural district in southeastern North Carolina serving roughly 20,856 students across 36 schools, comprising 22 elementary schools, 8 middle schools, and 6 high schools spanning pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. The district ranks 190th out of 246 North Carolina districts, and most schools perform below state averages in this very high-poverty region, yet a few standouts prove what is possible.

PSRC Early College at RCC is a statewide star, ranking 37th of 662 high schools and earning 5 stars with proficiency rates above 85 percent in every tested subject; however, its demographic profile is quite different from the rest of the county. Among traditional schools, Union Elementary is the strongest, ranking in the 63rd percentile statewide while serving a population with nearly 99 percent free/reduced lunch eligibility, and it outperforms state averages in multiple grade levels and subjects. East Robeson Primary also shines in early grades with 3rd-grade reading proficiency of 73.2 percent, far above the district's 45.0 percent and the state's 55.6 percent. Littlefield Middle is the district's best middle school, ranking at the 48th percentile and showing momentum after improving from the 24th percentile in one year.

The district's greatest concern is middle school achievement; seven of eight middle schools rank at or below the 13th percentile, with Fairmont Middle near the very bottom statewide. Chronic absenteeism is a districtwide crisis at 42.1 percent, more than double the state rate, and every school exceeds the state average. Still, there is genuine momentum: Red Springs High jumped from the 17th to 40th percentile, Fairmont High moved from the 6th to 34th percentile, and Rex-Rennert Elementary climbed from the 8th to 37th percentile. Graduation rates remain relatively strong at 89.2 percent, just above the state's 88.8 percent, suggesting that meaningful improvement is possible across the district even as challenges remain unevenly distributed.