Best Middle Schools in Zip Code 28366

Zip code 28366 in North Carolina is served by just one public middle school, Hobbton Middle in Newton Grove, which enrolls 428 students in grades 6–8 and operates under the Sampson County Schools district. Because there is no other middle school in the zip code for direct comparison, the most meaningful benchmarks are the district and state averages, and on that basis Hobbton Middle tells a story of steady improvement paired with persistent challenges. The school has moved from a 1-star rating in 2023–2024 (ranked 645th out of 793 North Carolina middle schools) to a 2-star rating in both 2024–2025 and 2025–2026, now sitting near the 40th percentile statewide.

Academically, Hobbton Middle’s strongest subject is 8th-grade science, where 68.1% of students scored proficient in 2025–2026, essentially matching the state average of 68.6% and far exceeding the district’s 62.5%. The school also posted a standout 62.4% proficiency rate in 6th-grade math, above the state’s 59.2%. However, proficiency drops sharply as students advance: math falls from 62.4% in 6th grade to 41.1% in 8th grade, and reading falls from 57.1% to 42.6%. These upper-grade results leave Hobbton Middle well below state averages in 8th-grade reading (42.6% vs. 56.1%) and 8th-grade math (41.1% vs. 53.0%). The bright spot is that most subjects improved year over year, most notably 8th-grade math, which jumped 14.7 percentage points, and 6th-grade reading, which rose 11.7 points.

Chronic absenteeism is a serious concern at Hobbton Middle, with 28.6% of students missing substantial school time, compared to 24.2% statewide, meaning roughly 122 of the school’s 428 students are chronically absent. The school serves an extremely high-poverty population, with 99.3% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch, and it has a student-teacher ratio of 18:1. Despite these obstacles, Hobbton Middle outperformed its district in nearly every tested subject in 2025–2026 and has clearly climbed out of the bottom tier of North Carolina middle schools. For parents, the key takeaway is that this is an improving school, particularly in science and early middle-school math, but one where 8th-grade reading and math proficiency and chronic absenteeism remain the biggest priorities.