The top reported proficiency rate is 34% in Science. The lowest is 28% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Pembroke Middle
Pembroke Middle is a small middle school in Robeson County's sole school district, serving the grades 6-8 population in and around the town of Pembroke. The school sits in a community with deep institutional roots: Pembroke is home to UNC Pembroke, the seat of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, and a town actively investing in downtown revitalization and civic life. The district and town form an interconnected social landscape, and the middle school is woven into it as one of three pre-high school buildings the district operates in Pembroke proper.
The peer group at Pembroke Middle reflects the town's identity. Nearly all students are Native American, most identifying as Lumbee; a substantial share of students are Black or Hispanic. Almost all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, marking economic hardship as a widespread condition in the school's neighborhood. The enrollment is small for a full middle school across three grade levels, with the seventh and eighth grade cohorts noticeably larger than the sixth.
State testing data from the most recent school year show proficiency rates below what families would likely see in higher-performing schools. Across mathematics, just under a third of students scored at proficient or above. In English language arts, that figure was lower, at just above a quarter. Science testing showed a slightly higher rate, though still under a midpoint figure. None of these results place the school among strong achievers, and a parent evaluating Pembroke Middle on test performance alone would see weak academic outcomes. A parent may want to look further into what the school offers to support students who are not yet proficient, what the school's approach is to literacy instruction (the district has adopted Science of Reading alignment at the elementary level, which shapes incoming students), and what trajectory the school expects for its eighth graders moving to high school.
The district itself is navigating significant resource constraints. Robeson County ranks last in the state for local per-pupil spending, a fact tied to the county's economic profile and tax base. Recent federal pandemic aid the district had planned to use for facility upgrades was abruptly canceled, forcing the district to divert its own funds to cover work already underway. These constraints shape what the school can invest in facilities, staff, and programming. On the positive side, the district has committed to a major career and technical education facility opening in August 2025, a new building in Pembroke itself with programs in drone technology, culinary arts, mechatronics, welding, and other fields, plus a planetarium and science center. This represents the district's first major new facility in decades and creates a county-wide CTE pathway students can access.
Pembroke itself has assets that affect school life. It is a small, quiet rural town with a strong cultural identity centered on the Lumbee Tribe, the university, and a modest historic downtown. The town is investing in complete-streets improvements linking downtown, the school district facilities, the university, and the tribal governmental complex. This is a place where civic and institutional life are geographically close and culturally interconnected, rather than spread out. Walkability is limited and car-dependent, though the downtown has sidewalks and the university provides a shuttle service students use. The housing market is dominated by renters, and median home values remain well below national benchmarks, making Pembroke an affordable place to live by broader US standards.
Pembroke Middle serves as the middle rung of a public school pathway in a county school system defined by limited resources, a highly concentrated student population of Lumbee and other Native American and Hispanic students in economic hardship, and proficiency outcomes below state norms. The school is embedded in a town with distinct cultural identity and a university presence, but also in a county system struggling to fund facility upgrades and competing against statewide per-pupil spending averages. A family choosing Pembroke Middle is choosing a school in a rural, low-wealth community where academic results are weak and district resources are constrained, though one where the school and town share institutional roots and where a new CTE facility is opening. Test scores alone tell a stark story; the fuller picture requires looking at what instruction, support, and pathway the school provides to move students forward from where they arrive.
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