Summary
Newport Middle serves 346 students in grades 6–8 in Newport, NC, and is part of the highly rated Carteret County Public Schools district, which holds a 4-star state rating and ranks in the 87th percentile of North Carolina districts.
Newport Middle has shown remarkable momentum in the most recent school year, jumping from the 50th to the 74th percentile statewide and earning a 4-star rating. The school now ranks 202nd out of 778 North Carolina middle schools and outperforms the state average in nearly every subject and grade level. Particularly impressive gains were made in 8th-grade science, where proficiency soared from 53.5% to 80.2%, and in 8th-grade reading, which jumped from 43.0% to 61.2%. The school's 7th grade is a standout, with 74.2% proficiency in math and 70.8% in reading. Compared with nearby schools, Newport performs on par with other high-poverty schools like Beaufort Middle (75th percentile) and Morehead City Middle (77th percentile), and far better than Havelock Middle, another demographically similar school that ranks in the 24th percentile. However, Broad Creek Middle, located just 4 miles away, outperforms Newport with a 92nd-percentile ranking and 80.5% composite EOG proficiency.
Nearly 99% of Newport Middle students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, making its above-average results a notable equity success. Low-income students, Hispanic students, and female students all rank at or above the 72nd percentile statewide among their comparable subgroups. The school has also made progress on chronic absenteeism, improving from 32.4% in 2022–2023 to 22.6% in 2024–2025, though this remains above the district rate of 18.7%. Parents should note that 8th-grade math is the school's weakest area, sitting right at the state average, and the school has not yet fully returned to its pre-pandemic peak of the 86th percentile. Still, the broad-based improvement across every grade and subject suggests meaningful, schoolwide progress worth watching.
Thank you for your feedback!