Summary:
Zip code 28385, encompassing Salemburg, NC, is home to one high school, Lakewood High, which serves grades 9–12. As the only high school in the area, Lakewood represents the entire local high school landscape, so the focus here is on its unique profile rather than school-to-school comparisons. This public school enrolls 475 students and belongs to Sampson County Schools, a district ranked 134th out of 246 in North Carolina with a 2-star rating.
Lakewood High serves an exceptionally high-poverty student body, with 96.84% of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, and its student-teacher ratio is 15.8:1. The school’s graduation rate is 82.3%, well below the district’s 89.0% and the state’s 88.8%. Chronic absenteeism affects 26.3% of students, slightly above the district and state rates of about 25% and 24%, respectively. Academically, results are mixed. English II proficiency is close to state averages, while biology lags meaningfully behind, with proficiency at 43.4% versus the state’s 58.5% in 2025–2026. Math III also fell from a strong 76.6% to 67.7%, but the standout trend is Math I, which jumped from just 17.3% to 42.6% in one year—now slightly above both district and state figures.
Lakewood High’s overall state ranking remains in the lower half of North Carolina high schools, hovering around the 35th to 41st percentile in recent years, but this masks areas of real progress. The dramatic improvement in Math I, combined with stable English II performance, shows potential for growth despite the school’s challenges. The most direct paths forward appear to be reducing chronic absenteeism and strengthening science instruction, which could help lift graduation rates and overall achievement for this high-poverty school.
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