Summary:
Zip code 27215 in Burlington, North Carolina contains exactly one middle school, Turrentine Middle School, which serves grades 6 through 8 as part of the Alamance-Burlington Schools district, so this summary focuses on that school's performance and trends.
Turrentine Middle is a large, high-poverty school with 739 students, and 99.59 percent qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, meaning the community it serves experiences significant economic disadvantage. The school showed remarkable year-over-year progress from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, improving in every tested subject and grade. Its statewide rank jumped from the 13th percentile to the 28th percentile, moving from 676th of 773 schools to 561st of 778 schools, despite still receiving a 1-star rating. The biggest gains came in 8th-grade science, which soared from 41.3 percent to 60.9 percent proficiency, 7th-grade reading from 30.3 to 47.5, and 7th-grade math from 25.9 to 38.3. In the most recent year, 8th-grade science was the school's strongest subject, topping the district average of 59.4 percent, while 6th-grade reading at 50.9 percent also exceeded the district's 48.6 percent. Math remains the biggest challenge, with 8th-grade math at 32.9 percent proficiency, 8.3 points behind the district and 20.1 points behind the state.
Persistent challenges remain, as chronic absenteeism affects 35.6 percent of students, higher than the district's 30.0 percent and the state's 24.2 percent, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 18.2 to 1. Still, the broad academic gains at Turrentine Middle suggest that the school is building positive momentum, with particular strength emerging in science and reading. For parents considering this school, Turrentine Middle is a school making clear progress, though it continues to trail state averages in math. Since Turrentine is the only middle school in zip code 27215, families looking for a comparison would need to look beyond Burlington to other schools in the Alamance-Burlington Schools district.
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