C M Eppes Middle

C M Eppes Middle is a grades 6–8 school in Greenville, NC, serving 631 students as part of Pitt County Schools. The school currently earns 2 stars and ranks 522nd out of 778 North Carolina middle schools (33rd percentile), a clear improvement from recent years when it ranked in the 600s. Eppes serves an extremely high-poverty student population, with more than 97% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a similar demographic context to nearby middle schools in the district.

Academically, Eppes trails the district and state in every subject and grade level on EOG exams. The widest gap is in 8th-grade science, where only about half of students are proficient—roughly 20 points below the district average and 18 points below the state. That science weakness stands out even among neighboring schools with similar challenges. E B Aycock Middle, less than a mile away and with lower overall math and reading scores, still posts higher science proficiency, as does Wellcome Middle. The contrast with Hope Middle, in the same district with similar poverty levels, is stark: Hope ranks 47th statewide and far exceeds Eppes in every subject. Chronic absenteeism also remains a concern, affecting nearly 30% of Eppes students, though that rate has dropped considerably from roughly 43% a few years ago.

There are genuine signs of progress. Between 2023-2024 and 2025-2026, math and reading proficiency rose by double digits in several grade levels, lifting the school’s overall rank from 604th to 522nd. Certain student groups show notable strengths: Gifted and Talented students jumped to the 82nd percentile statewide, and White and Hispanic students also perform above the state midpoint. Still, science has remained essentially flat, and results for low-income students, female students, and African American students are more mixed. Eppes appears to be a school in transition, with recent gains in core subjects and strong pockets of success that could point the way toward more consistent improvement.