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West Carteret High

Q: Is West Carteret High a good school?

West Carteret High ranks 224 th of 662 North Carolina high schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

Public Grades 9-12

224^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 662 North Carolina High Schools

Better than 66% of North Carolina high schools

Summary

West Carteret High is a large public high school in the coastal community of Morehead City, North Carolina, serving roughly 1,095 students in grades 9–12 as part of Carteret County Public Schools, a district ranked 31st out of 246 statewide. The school's own ranking is more middling: 224th out of 662 North Carolina high schools, placing it in the 66th percentile with 3 stars. That makes West Carteret the lowest-ranked comprehensive high school in its county — well behind Croatan High, which ranks in the top 12% statewide, and East Carteret High, which sits in the 78th percentile. A decade ago, this school consistently ranked in the top 15–20% of the state.

The biggest red flag is Math I: just 39.6% of West Carteret students scored proficient on the state exam — about 23 points below the district average, slightly below the state average, and roughly 40 points behind both East Carteret High and Croatan High. The problem is persistent, with Math I proficiency stuck in the low 40s for several years. Attendance and graduation are also concerns. Nearly 30% of students were chronically absent, well above district and state rates and the highest among nearby comprehensive high schools, while the 83% graduation rate trails the district, state, and local peers. The latest year did bring strong gains in English II (73.5%), Biology (75.3%), and Math III (79.1%) — but Math I slipped again.

There are genuine bright spots, too. West Carteret outperforms Havelock High in every tested subject and beats East Carteret High in English II. Subgroup results add nuance: military-connected students rank 10th out of 70 schools statewide (86th percentile), and African American students and gifted students each earned 4-star ratings. English language learners have climbed from the 3rd to the 43rd percentile over two years. That momentum, paired with better attendance and a sharper focus on Math I, gives West Carteret a realistic path back toward the rankings it posted a decade ago.

1,095

Students ?

23.1

Student/teacher ratio ?

$10,075

Per pupil spending ?

Community Eligibility

All students receive free meals (2024-25) ?

4700 Country Club Rd
Morehead City, NC 28557-6218

(252) 726-1176

District: Carteret County Public Schools

Feeder schools for West Carteret High:

Elementary:	Morehead City Primary
	Morehead Elementary at Camp Glenn
	Newport Elementary
Middle:	Morehead City Middle
	Newport Middle

Racial breakdown:

White:

70.3%

Hispanic:

13.7%

African American:

6.8%

See top rated North Carolina high schools

Compare West Carteret High to nearby high schools!

At a glance

▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 85th percentile in 2016 → 66th in 2026

Strengths

✓Test scores above the North Carolina average (70% vs 60% meeting standards)

✓Above the North Carolina median (66th percentile)

Worth a look

!Graduation rate below the North Carolina average (83% vs 89%)

!Ranking has slipped — down 19 percentile points since 2016

!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing

Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?

This school70%

District avg78%

North Carolina avg60%

224^th of 662

North Carolina public high schools ?

Top 34%▼ down 19 pts since 2016

From top 15% (2016) to top 34% (2026)

See the entire ranking list of North Carolina High Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

3^rd of 3High Schools in the Carteret County Public Schools

31^st of 246Carteret County Public Schools among North Carolina districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	64.4	224 of 662	66.2%	★★★☆☆
2025	57.3	249 of 641	61.2%	★★★☆☆
2024	52.6	284 of 640	55.6%	★★★☆☆
2023	64.8	196 of 626	68.7%	★★★☆☆
2022	68.8	175 of 621	71.8%	★★★★☆
2021	74.3	131 of 594	77.9%	★★★★☆
2019	75.9	68 of 514	86.8%	★★★★☆
2018	82.2	49 of 469	89.6%	★★★★☆
2017	74.3	66 of 476	86.1%	★★★★☆
2016	68.7	75 of 507	85.2%	★★★★☆
2015	74.8	61 of 531	88.5%	★★★★☆
2014	75.4	47 of 451	89.6%	★★★★☆
2013	75.3	31 of 505	93.9%	★★★★★
2012	75.8	41 of 502	91.8%	★★★★★
2011	78.8	33 of 506	93.5%	★★★★★
2010	74.1	45 of 499	91.0%	★★★★★
2009	74.0	45 of 490	90.8%	★★★★★
2008	73.4	51 of 477	89.3%	★★★★☆
2007	73.9	48 of 453	89.4%	★★★★☆
2006	70.7	63 of 431	85.4%	★★★★☆

African American

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	60.9	131 of 450	70.9%	★★★★☆
2025	50.3	176 of 440	60.0%	★★★☆☆
2024	64.3	106 of 437	75.7%	★★★★☆
2023	55.4	141 of 434	67.5%	★★★☆☆
2022	54.0	148 of 430	65.6%	★★★☆☆
2021	58.2	81 of 364	77.7%	★★★★☆
2019	72.0	44 of 369	88.1%	★★★★☆
2018	79.9	36 of 359	90.0%	★★★★★

Disabled

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2022	50.5	117 of 330	64.5%	★★★☆☆
2021	44.9	144 of 334	56.9%	★★★☆☆
2019	83.8	20 of 364	94.5%	★★★★★
2018	71.0	58 of 349	83.4%	★★★★☆

English Language Learner

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	40.1	166 of 289	42.6%	★★☆☆☆
2025	31.7	198 of 273	27.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	18.9	255 of 262	2.7%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	55.5	64 of 226	71.7%	★★★★☆
2022	70.0	14 of 156	91.0%	★★★★★

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	63.0	220 of 629	65.0%	★★★☆☆
2025	57.8	243 of 610	60.2%	★★★☆☆
2024	47.2	305 of 602	49.3%	★★☆☆☆
2023	69.2	169 of 588	71.3%	★★★★☆
2022	70.9	164 of 594	72.4%	★★★★☆
2021	79.8	48 of 475	89.9%	★★★★★
2019	75.8	69 of 475	85.5%	★★★★☆
2018	84.4	40 of 449	91.1%	★★★★★

Gifted and Talented

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	74.1	85 of 407	79.1%	★★★★☆
2025	46.0	278 of 412	32.5%	★★☆☆☆
2024	70.0	110 of 403	72.7%	★★★★☆
2023	77.9	67 of 403	83.4%	★★★★☆
2021	73.1	65 of 337	80.7%	★★★★☆
2019	72.1	59 of 325	81.8%	★★★★☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	43.4	248 of 474	47.7%	★★☆☆☆
2025	34.1	297 of 462	35.7%	★★☆☆☆
2024	23.1	372 of 454	18.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	49.1	189 of 449	57.9%	★★★☆☆
2022	57.1	141 of 436	67.7%	★★★☆☆
2021	69.8	40 of 370	89.2%	★★★★☆
2019	69.2	45 of 354	87.3%	★★★★☆
2018	70.6	51 of 340	85.0%	★★★★☆

Homeless

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2019	92.7	3 of 44	93.2%	★★★★★

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	50.7	258 of 620	58.4%	★★★☆☆
2025	48.8	249 of 606	58.9%	★★★☆☆
2024	43.7	298 of 613	51.4%	★★★☆☆
2023	57.8	198 of 597	66.8%	★★★☆☆
2022	57.3	179 of 544	67.1%	★★★☆☆
2021	66.3	43 of 432	90.0%	★★★★★
2019	76.4	30 of 446	93.3%	★★★★★
2018	79.7	39 of 424	90.8%	★★★★★

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	64.0	217 of 624	65.2%	★★★☆☆
2025	55.2	242 of 601	59.7%	★★★☆☆
2024	56.4	237 of 607	61.0%	★★★☆☆
2023	59.2	227 of 602	62.3%	★★★☆☆
2022	66.3	182 of 585	68.9%	★★★☆☆
2021	68.6	85 of 481	82.3%	★★★★☆
2019	75.2	61 of 488	87.5%	★★★★☆
2018	78.9	64 of 463	86.2%	★★★★☆

Military Connected

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	83.1	10 of 70	85.7%	★★★★☆
2025	47.3	28 of 53	47.2%	★★★☆☆
2024	42.1	29 of 49	40.8%	★★☆☆☆
2023	69.5	14 of 48	70.8%	★★★★☆
2022	82.1	7 of 47	85.1%	★★★★☆
2021	58.2	13 of 41	68.3%	★★★★☆

Multi-racial

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	52.4	124 of 265	53.2%	★★★☆☆
2025	56.0	106 of 253	58.1%	★★★☆☆
2024	44.2	144 of 261	44.8%	★★☆☆☆
2023	67.2	65 of 249	73.9%	★★★★☆
2022	58.5	67 of 226	70.4%	★★★★☆
2021	51.6	93 of 199	53.3%	★★★☆☆
2019	64.0	56 of 195	71.3%	★★★★☆
2018	70.3	48 of 185	74.1%	★★★★☆

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	52.8	126 of 372	66.1%	★★★☆☆
2025	56.2	94 of 352	73.3%	★★★★☆
2024	39.5	187 of 349	46.4%	★★☆☆☆

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	North Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	60.4	232 of 551	57.9%	★★★☆☆
2025	52.2	262 of 542	51.7%	★★★☆☆
2024	48.1	289 of 553	47.7%	★★☆☆☆
2023	58.6	216 of 537	59.8%	★★★☆☆
2022	64.6	190 of 534	64.4%	★★★☆☆
2021	69.8	85 of 439	80.6%	★★★★☆
2019	71.1	81 of 444	81.8%	★★★★☆
2018	76.9	72 of 427	83.1%	★★★★☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

Homeless (2019)93rd percentile+6 vs school

Military Connected (2026)86th percentile+20 vs school

Gifted and Talented (2026)79th percentile+13 vs school

African American (2026)71st percentile+5 vs school

Special Education (2026)66th percentile~ school

Male (2026)65th percentile~ school

Female (2026)65th percentile~ school

Disabled (2022)65th percentile-7 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2026)58th percentile-8 vs school

White (2026)58th percentile-8 vs school

Multi-racial (2026)53rd percentile-13 vs school

Hispanic (2026)48th percentile-18 vs school

English Language Learner (2026)43rd percentile-24 vs school

By subject vs North Carolina (2025-2026) ?

Math III79%+10 vs state

Biology75%+17 vs state

English II74%+9 vs state

Math I40%~ state avg

2.5

2 ratings · 2 written reviews

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4★1

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1★1

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What people are saying

by a parent
Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Attending this school can be lonely for an Afro-American who is only culturally Black. However, you can count on your child getting a good education at West Carteret. Close Quote

by a student
Tuesday, February 5, 2019

The school is crawling with roaches and rats. The teachers are just there to get payed and couldn’t care less about the students or actually teaching anything. The administration doesn’t care about anything except trying to dress code girls for the stupidest things like gym shorts, Nike slides and not even kidding someone’s lunchbox. You basically don’t matter at the school unless you play football, basketball or are in band. The teachers do nothing about bullying and start more drama than the actual students do. The school tries to cover everything that happens up (we had two bomb/shooting threats and they never told parents) and act like everything is okay. Like I mentioned before they have rats, and one was so big it ate a hole through the auditorium seats, curtain, a trash can, and someone bookbag and the school did nothing about it so the drama students had to catch it themselves. They fired the good janitors (after one died from cancer after working at the school for 30 years) and hired a cheap company where the people don’t do their jobs, hide in the janitors closet on their phones and give the students creepy looks. Close Quote

Schools Near West Carteret High

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				EOC Biology (2026)	EOC English II (2026)	EOC Math I (2026)	EOC Math III (2026)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/reduced lunch (2024-25)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	EOC Biology End of Course	EOC English II End of Course	EOC Math I End of Course	EOC Math III End of Course	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
West Carteret High	Public	9-12	4700 Country Club Rd	Morehead City	28557	Carteret County	Carteret County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 726-1176	1,095	47	23.1	—	770 (70.3%)	75 (6.8%)	150 (13.7%)	13 (1.2%)	3 (0.3%)	10 (0.9%)	74 (6.8%)	64.4	224^th of 662 public high schools	66.2%		57.3	249^th of 641 public high schools	61.2%	25	75.3	73.5	39.6	79.1	$10,075	$730	$9,345
Bridges School	Public	6-12	140 Vashti Dr	Morehead City	28557	Carteret County	Carteret County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 808-3040	11	3	3.6	72.7%	7 (63.6%)	3 (27.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (9.1%)								(n/a)					$50,386	$4,316	$46,070
East Carteret High	Public	9-12	3263 Hwy 70 E	Beaufort	28516	Carteret County	Carteret County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 728-3514	521	30	17.3	97.7%	407 (78.1%)	39 (7.5%)	37 (7.1%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (6.5%)	78.3	145^th of 662 public high schools	78.1%		79.1	138^th of 641 public high schools	78.5%	7	78.9	66.9	78.2	97.5	$11,795	$560	$11,235
Croatan High	Public	9-12	1 Cougar Ln	Newport	28570	Carteret County	Carteret County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 393-7022	1,019	44	23.4	27.9%	855 (83.9%)	9 (0.9%)	97 (9.5%)	16 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	41 (4.0%)	89.8	80^th of 662 public high schools	87.9%		84.8	112^th of 641 public high schools	82.5%	32	90.8	93.1	81.0	94.4	$9,671	$682	$8,989
Havelock High	Public	9-12	101 Webb Boulevard	Havelock	28532	Craven County	Craven County Board of Education	No	No	No	No	(252) 444-5112	1,014	44	23.1	52.5%	487 (48.0%)	240 (23.7%)	166 (16.4%)	15 (1.5%)	4 (0.4%)	5 (0.5%)	97 (9.6%)	37.2	424^th of 662 public high schools	36.0%		42.3	360^th of 641 public high schools	43.8%	64	57.8	66.2	25.6	55.9	$9,356	$1,044	$8,312
Early College EAST High	Public	9-12	104 Middle School Lane	Havelock	28532	Craven County	Craven County Board of Education	No	No	No	No	(252) 444-5194	208	6	37.1	27.4%	128 (61.5%)	21 (10.1%)	37 (17.8%)	6 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	14 (6.7%)	80.6	139^th of 662 public high schools	79.0%		85.4	108^th of 641 public high schools	83.2%	31	85.1	91.5	46.9	95.7	$7,531	$242	$7,289

Frequently Asked Questions about West Carteret High

What is the racial makeup of West Carteret High?

Students at West Carteret High are 70% White, 14% Hispanic, 7% African American, 7% Two or more races, 1% Asian.

What schools feed into West Carteret High?

West Carteret High is fed by the following schools:

Elementary : Morehead City Primary
Elementary : Morehead Elementary at Camp Glenn
Elementary : Newport Elementary
Middle : Morehead City Middle
Middle : Newport Middle

How many students attend West Carteret High?

In the 2024-25 school year, 1,095 students attended West Carteret High.

What district is West Carteret High in?

Carteret County Public Schools

Is West Carteret High a good school?

West Carteret High ranks 224^th of 662 North Carolina high schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

Rate West Carteret High!

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Latest North Carolina data All new data »

2020–21 through 2025–26 immunization ratesNewOct 19, 2026

2022–23 immunization rates (updated)NewOct 19, 2026

2017–18 through 2025–26 attendance data & graduation ratesSep 2, 2026

2025–26 EOC & EOG test scoresSep 2, 2026

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.