Pembroke Middle

Pembroke Middle, a grades 6–8 school in Pembroke, North Carolina, enrolls about 645 students and belongs to the Public Schools of Robeson County, a rural district that ranks 190th out of 246 statewide; nearly all of its students — 99.5% — come from low-income households. The school ranked 680th out of 778 North Carolina middle schools in 2025-26, landing in the 13th percentile with a 1-star rating. That remains near the bottom of the state distribution, but it is a step up from the 9th percentile in 2024-25. Over the past decade, its ranking has drifted between the 8th and 23rd percentiles with no consistent upward momentum.

In the classroom, Pembroke Middle’s proficiency rates sit close to the already-low district averages but trail the state by roughly 18–22 points in most subjects: about 35.6% proficiency in math and 33.6% in reading, compared with state averages of 56.1% and 55.7%. Eighth-grade science is the relative bright spot at 50.6%, while eighth-grade reading is the weakest area at just 25.8%. Chronic absenteeism is an even more serious concern — 54.9% of students were chronically absent in 2024-25, more than double the state rate of 24.2%. The contrast with Littlefield Middle, a district neighbor with identical poverty demographics, is stark: Littlefield held absenteeism to 33.2% and reached the 48th percentile, 35 points higher than Pembroke Middle.

Still, Pembroke Middle outranks most of its neighboring Robeson County middle schools, including Saint Pauls Middle and Fairmont Middle, both of which landed in the 4th and 2nd percentiles respectively. Inside the school, student outcomes are uneven: English Learner students ranked in the 75th percentile statewide in 2025-26, and Native American students ranked in the 57th percentile — both well above the school’s overall standing. In contrast, students with disabilities ranked in the 7th percentile and low-income students (nearly the entire student body) in the 6th percentile. Year-to-year swings are sizable, so the recent improvement from the 9th to 13th percentile is encouraging but not yet a solid trend; sustained gains in attendance and eighth-grade reading are essential next steps.