Centennial Campus Middle

Centennial Campus Middle is a grades 6–8 middle school in Raleigh, NC, serving 477 students within the Wake County Schools district. That district is generally high-performing—ranking in the 76th percentile statewide with a 4-star rating—but Centennial is a clear exception. The school currently holds a 1-star rating and ranks in the 19th percentile of North Carolina middle schools, a significant decline from a decade ago when it ranked near the middle of the state pack. Academic proficiency now trails state averages by roughly 20 percentage points and Wake County averages by 25 to 30 points in nearly every subject and grade. Only 33.3% of 8th graders are proficient in math, for example, compared with 64.4% across the district.

Nearby schools highlight the gap. Dillard Drive Middle, just over two miles away, ranks in the 45th percentile, while Moore Square Middle, Carnage Middle, East Cary Middle, and Oberlin Middle all rank in the low-to-high 80s. Even North Garner Middle, which serves a nearly identical share of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch (99.6% versus Centennial's 99.4%), outranks Centennial at the 27th percentile. Chronic absenteeism is arguably the school's most defining challenge: 45.7% of students were chronically absent in 2024–25, more than double the district rate of 20.5% and well above North Garner's 31.0%. That said, Centennial's resource levels are not the problem—the school has a favorable 12.9:1 student-teacher ratio.

Despite the low overall outcomes, there are genuine bright spots. Gifted students at Centennial rank in the 96th percentile statewide, and special education students have ranked between the 57th and 74th percentile over the past three years—strong results compared with other North Carolina middle schools serving those populations. However, large equity gaps remain: the school's effectiveness for Hispanic students ranks in the bottom 10% statewide, and low-income students rank in the 19th percentile. These patterns suggest Centennial's strategies work much better for some groups than others. The most promising path forward is a coordinated focus on improving attendance, stabilizing learning environments, and applying the successful approaches used with gifted and special education students to the broader student population.