Summary:
Zip code 28273 in Charlotte, NC, is served by two public middle schools—Southwest Middle School and Kennedy Middle—both part of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, covering grades 6 through 8 with a combined enrollment of 2,195 students in a predominantly economically disadvantaged area. Both schools serve nearly identical student populations, with free/reduced lunch rates around 99.7%, yet they produce noticeably different academic results.
Kennedy Middle is the stronger-performing school overall, ranking 425th out of 778 North Carolina middle schools (45th percentile, 2 stars) compared with Southwest Middle School at 556th (29th percentile, 1 star). Kennedy Middle posts about 54.3% average proficiency across all End-of-Grade tests versus 46.6% at Southwest Middle School, and it meets or exceeds district and state averages in 7th grade math, 7th grade reading, and 8th grade science. Southwest Middle School, meanwhile, is the most improved school in the zip code, climbing from the 16th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 29th percentile in 2025-2026 while lifting average proficiency from 39.3% to 46.6%—a gain of roughly 7.3 percentage points driven largely by math and science improvements. Even so, Southwest Middle School remains below district and state averages in nearly every subject and grade level.
Chronic absenteeism is a major systemic challenge, hitting 42.3% at Southwest Middle School and 31.7% at Kennedy Middle, both well above the state average of 24.2%. Kennedy Middle shows a clear strength in 8th grade science at 69.5% proficiency, above both the district and state, but also has a sharp drop-off in 8th grade math at 38.7% proficiency, where Southwest Middle School actually outperforms it. Neither school currently ranks in the top half of North Carolina middle schools, though Kennedy Middle's performance in several subjects demonstrates that high-poverty schools in this area can reach district and state benchmarks.
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