Woodington Middle

Located south of Kinston, NC, Woodington Middle serves 584 students in grades 6–8 and is part of the Lenoir County Public Schools district. Operating in a very high-poverty context in which 99.5% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, Woodington currently ranks 361st of 778 North Carolina middle schools — the 54th percentile with a three-star rating. That marks a significant improvement over the prior year, when the school ranked in the 38th percentile.

Woodington is the strongest middle school in the local Lenoir County comparison group. It surpasses E B Frink Middle in every tested subject and grade combination, and the gap with Rochelle Middle is dramatic — Woodington posts 59.9% proficiency in 7th-grade math versus Rochelle's 23.3%. Reading is a standout strength: Woodington outperforms all nearby comparison schools, including the higher-ranked Spring Creek Middle, in 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade reading. It also compares favorably with Trexler Middle in Onslow County, which serves a much less economically disadvantaged population yet posts lower proficiency in most subjects. The clearest opportunity is 8th-grade math, where Woodington's 50.5% proficiency trails Spring Creek's 76.1% by a wide margin.

Woodington rates especially well for student subgroups that are often underserved: English Language Learner students rank in the 89th percentile statewide, Hispanic students in the 72nd, special education students in the 71st, and low-income students in the 70th percentile. The main exception is the Gifted and Talented subgroup, which ranks near the 6th percentile — a clear area for the school to investigate. Chronic absenteeism, while improved from 38.7% a few years ago to 26.8%, remains slightly above the state average of 24.2%. On a positive note, the school posted gains in every tested subject and grade level this past year, suggesting the recent improvement is broad-based. Given the challenges of its student population, Woodington appears to be moving in the right direction.