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West Carteret High

Public Grades 8-12
249th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 641 North Carolina High Schools
Better than 61% of North Carolina high schools
Summary

West Carteret High is a public high school located in Morehead City, North Carolina, serving grades 9-12 with a total enrollment of 1,097 students. The school is part of the Carteret County Public Schools district, which is ranked 33 out of 242 districts in North Carolina and is rated 4 stars out of 5 by SchoolDigger.

West Carteret High has consistently ranked in the top half of North Carolina high schools, with a ranking range of 49 to 284 out of 469 to 640 schools over the past 10 years. The school has maintained a 4-star rating out of 5 from SchoolDigger for most of the past decade, indicating strong overall performance. Additionally, West Carteret High has maintained a high four-year graduation rate, ranging from 82.1% to 87.7% over the past few years, which is above the state average. The school's proficiency rates in End-of-Course (EOC) exams, such as Biology, English II, Math I, and Math III, are generally higher than the state averages, with some subjects like Biology and Math III consistently outperforming the district and state.

When compared to other high schools in the Carteret County Public Schools district, such as East Carteret High and Croatan High, West Carteret High performs comparably or better in terms of statewide ranking, graduation rates, and test scores. However, when compared to schools outside the district, such as Havelock High and Early College EAST High in the Craven County Board of Education district, West Carteret High's performance is more mixed, with some areas where it outperforms and others where it lags behind.

1,095
Students ?
23.1
Student/teacher ratio ?
$10,075
Per pupil spending ?
99%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 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%
more
 See top rated North Carolina high schools

 Compare West Carteret High to nearby high schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Declining — 89th percentile in 2015 → 61st in 2025
Strengths
Test scores above the North Carolina average (60% vs 53% meeting standards)
Above the North Carolina median (61st percentile)
Worth a look
!Graduation rate below the North Carolina average (83% vs 88%)
!Ranking has slipped — down 28 percentile points since 2015
!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school60%
District avg70%
North Carolina avg53%
249th of 641
North Carolina public high schools ?
Top 39%▼ down 27 pts since 2015
From top 11% (2015) to top 39% (2025)
See the entire ranking list of North Carolina High Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
3rd of 3High Schools in the Carteret County Public Schools
33rd of 242Carteret 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

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202557.3249 of 64161.2%★★★☆☆
202452.6284 of 64055.6%★★★☆☆
202364.8196 of 62668.7%★★★☆☆
202268.8175 of 62171.8%★★★★☆
202174.3131 of 59477.9%★★★★☆
201975.968 of 51486.8%★★★★☆
201882.249 of 46989.6%★★★★☆
201774.366 of 47686.1%★★★★☆
201668.775 of 50785.2%★★★★☆
201574.861 of 53188.5%★★★★☆
201475.447 of 45189.6%★★★★☆
201375.331 of 50593.9%★★★★★
201275.841 of 50291.8%★★★★★
201178.833 of 50693.5%★★★★★
201074.145 of 49991.0%★★★★★
200974.045 of 49090.8%★★★★★
200873.451 of 47789.3%★★★★☆
200773.948 of 45389.4%★★★★☆
200670.763 of 43185.4%★★★★☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202550.3176 of 44060.0%★★★☆☆
202464.3106 of 43775.7%★★★★☆
202355.4141 of 43467.5%★★★☆☆
202254.0148 of 43065.6%★★★☆☆
202158.281 of 36477.7%★★★★☆
201972.044 of 36988.1%★★★★☆
201879.936 of 35990.0%★★★★★

Disabled

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202250.5117 of 33064.5%★★★☆☆
202144.9144 of 33456.9%★★★☆☆
201983.820 of 36494.5%★★★★★
201871.058 of 34983.4%★★★★☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202531.7198 of 27327.5%★☆☆☆☆
202418.9255 of 2622.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202355.564 of 22671.7%★★★★☆
202270.014 of 15691.0%★★★★★

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202557.8243 of 61060.2%★★★☆☆
202447.2305 of 60249.3%★★☆☆☆
202369.2169 of 58871.3%★★★★☆
202270.9164 of 59472.4%★★★★☆
202179.848 of 47589.9%★★★★★
201975.869 of 47585.5%★★★★☆
201884.440 of 44991.1%★★★★★

Gifted and Talented

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202546.0278 of 41232.5%★★☆☆☆
202470.0110 of 40372.7%★★★★☆
202377.967 of 40383.4%★★★★☆
202173.165 of 33780.7%★★★★☆
201972.159 of 32581.8%★★★★☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202534.1297 of 46235.7%★★☆☆☆
202423.1372 of 45418.1%★☆☆☆☆
202349.1189 of 44957.9%★★★☆☆
202257.1141 of 43667.7%★★★☆☆
202169.840 of 37089.2%★★★★☆
201969.245 of 35487.3%★★★★☆
201870.651 of 34085.0%★★★★☆

Homeless

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
201992.73 of 4493.2%★★★★★

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202548.8249 of 60658.9%★★★☆☆
202443.7298 of 61351.4%★★★☆☆
202357.8198 of 59766.8%★★★☆☆
202257.3179 of 54467.1%★★★☆☆
202166.343 of 43290.0%★★★★★
201976.430 of 44693.3%★★★★★
201879.739 of 42490.8%★★★★★

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202555.2242 of 60159.7%★★★☆☆
202456.4237 of 60761.0%★★★☆☆
202359.2227 of 60262.3%★★★☆☆
202266.3182 of 58568.9%★★★☆☆
202168.685 of 48182.3%★★★★☆
201975.261 of 48887.5%★★★★☆
201878.964 of 46386.2%★★★★☆

Military Connected

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202547.328 of 5347.2%★★★☆☆
202442.129 of 4940.8%★★☆☆☆
202369.514 of 4870.8%★★★★☆
202282.17 of 4785.1%★★★★☆
202158.213 of 4168.3%★★★★☆

Multi-racial

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202556.0106 of 25358.1%★★★☆☆
202444.2144 of 26144.8%★★☆☆☆
202367.265 of 24973.9%★★★★☆
202258.567 of 22670.4%★★★★☆
202151.693 of 19953.3%★★★☆☆
201964.056 of 19571.3%★★★★☆
201870.348 of 18574.1%★★★★☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202556.294 of 35273.3%★★★★☆
202439.5187 of 34946.4%★★☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Carolina percentileRating
202552.2262 of 54251.7%★★★☆☆
202448.1289 of 55347.7%★★☆☆☆
202358.6216 of 53759.8%★★★☆☆
202264.6190 of 53464.4%★★★☆☆
202169.885 of 43980.6%★★★★☆
201971.181 of 44481.8%★★★★☆
201876.972 of 42783.1%★★★★☆
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
Special Education (2025)73rd percentile+12 vs school
Disabled (2022)65th percentile-7 vs school
Female (2025)60th percentile~ school
African American (2025)60th percentile~ school
Male (2025)60th percentile~ school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)59th percentile~ school
Multi-racial (2025)58th percentile-3 vs school
White (2025)52nd percentile-9 vs school
Military Connected (2025)47th percentile-14 vs school
Hispanic (2025)36th percentile-25 vs school
Gifted and Talented (2025)33rd percentile-29 vs school
English Language Learner (2025)27th percentile-34 vs school
By subject vs North Carolina (2024-2025) ?
Biology66%+17 vs state
Math III65%~ state avg
English II61%~ state avg
Math I45%+11 vs state

2.5
2 ratings · 2 written reviews
50
41
30
20
11
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What people are saying
by a parent
Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Open Quote 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

Open Quote 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





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Frequently Asked Questions about West Carteret High

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

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

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

West Carteret High ranks 249th of 641 North Carolina high schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.


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Latest North Carolina data All new data »
2016–17 through 2024–25 graduation ratesSep 3, 2025
2024–25 EOC & EOG test scoresSep 3, 2025
2023–24 EOC & EOG test scoresSep 4, 2024


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.





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