Neal Middle, Durham NC - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Neal Middle

Neal Middle is a public middle school of about typical size for its grade band, serving grades six through eight in Durham. The school draws from a neighborhood in Durham with a median home value roughly at or slightly below the state average for North Carolina, and rents in the zip code are moderate for the region.

The student body is predominantly Hispanic and Black, with smaller populations of other races. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a high-poverty context. The school does not report counts for students with individualized education plans or English learners, so parents may want to look into the school's special-populations services directly.

On state testing, Neal Middle's performance is well below proficiency on reading and math. In both subjects, roughly one in three students scored at proficient or above on the End-of-Grade Tests. In science, where testing is newer this year, performance was stronger at just under half of students proficient. The school does not report average scale scores or participation rates, so while these figures reflect the students tested, context on why some students may not have sat for tests is not available from the state data. Trend data comparing this year to past years is not available, so whether performance is improving, declining, or stable cannot be determined from what has been released.

Relative to the other districts in Durham County, no direct comparison is possible because the county's proficiency comparison set requires data from multiple schools, and this profile contains only Neal. A parent seeking context should ask Durham Public Schools directly how Neal's results compare to the district average and to schools serving similar populations.

The broader Durham Public Schools context shapes what families here experience. The district adopted a Science of Reading approach district-wide, with required daily literacy instruction minutes and structured phonics curricula. The district also faces real infrastructure challenges: administrators have publicly drafted plans to consolidate older elementary schools and may pursue another bond referendum, though Neal is a middle school and would not directly be affected by those elementary-focused proposals. The district experienced labor tensions in 2024 that led to staffing disruptions, though new salary protocols and ongoing labor discussions have since followed. For a family at Neal, these district-level changes touch staffing continuity and instructional priorities but may be less immediately visible than the school's day-to-day academic support and climate.

Neal sits in Durham, a city with a strong urban core, vibrant downtown anchored by Duke University and healthcare, and a creative economy. The area is growing steadily, with new housing developments ongoing. The neighborhood around Baptist Road, where Neal is located, is a mixed-use area that reflects Durham's diversity.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grades 3-833%

School 33% · District 51% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

English language arts

Grades 3-833%

School 33% · District 47% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Science

Grades 3-845%

School 45% · District 53% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

This schoolDurham Public Schools, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income21%Higher-income34%12 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income36%Higher-income32%3 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income41%Higher-income36%5 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income33%Higher-income34%2 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income25%Higher-income44%19 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income29%Higher-income41%12 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income29%Higher-income39%9 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income28%Higher-income41%13 pp gap