High school (grades 9-12) · Fayetteville, NC

Pine Forest High

Federal NCES profile for Pine Forest High, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 41/100.

2024-25 NCES dataHigh school (grades 9-12)NCES 370001100426
0/100100/10041/100
👥 S:T ratio
24
📚 AP courses
75
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
38
📋 Attendance
0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Pine Forest High earns 41/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 86% of North Carolina schools. It is also one of the largest schools in North Carolina.

#15 of 15
high schools in Fayetteville · Resource Index
41
Resource Index · Typical
18.9:1
large classes for North Carolina
57.8%
free-lunch eligible

Pine Forest High has class sizes larger than 86% of North Carolina schools. Computed live against every North Carolina school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Pine Forest High ranks #15 of 15 high schools in Fayetteville, NC.

Enrollment

1,551

North Carolina · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

82.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

18.9:1

vs 15.8:1 North Carolina avg

+20% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

57.8%

vs 66.0% North Carolina avg

-12% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Pine Forest High compares with North Carolina and U.S. medians

Larger classes than state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Pine Forest High

Pine Forest High is a higher-need, large high school in Fayetteville, North Carolina, enrolling 1,551 students.

Class loads run heavy: 18.9:1 is larger than about 86% of North Carolina schools and 20% above the 15.8:1 state mean, so each teacher carries more students than is typical.

Its free-meal eligibility rate of 57.8% lands close to the North Carolina typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.

By headcount it is one of the larger campuses in North Carolina, bigger than 96% of state schools at 1,551 students.

Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 2,698 scored North Carolina schools.

Among 98 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need North Carolina schools statewide, it ranks #76, in the lower tier once campus size and economic need are matched.

Its student body is led by African American (49%) and White (22%) (diversity index 68/100).

On the academic-pipeline side it reports 15 Advanced Placement courses.

Counselor coverage runs a bit thin, about 310 students per counselor, somewhat past the ASCA-recommended 250:1 benchmark.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 57.4% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

Its district draws 25.7% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.

Discipline events run high: 331 in- and out-of-school suspensions were reported for 1,551 students in the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.

The federal civil-rights collection also records 2 expulsions at this campus for 2021-22.

Among Fayetteville's high schools, it stands alongside Jack Britt High (1,940 students): Pine Forest High is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (18.9:1 vs 19.4:1).

Cumberland County Schools also operates Jack Britt High (1,940 students) and Cape Fear High (1,515 students) alongside Pine Forest High.

Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25

How Pine Forest High compares

Pine Forest High on the metrics families compare, against North Carolina and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs North Carolina North Carolina avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 18.9:1 ▲ 20% 15.8:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 57.8% ▼ 12% 66.0% 51.7%
Enrollment 1,551 top 4% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

18.9:1
Leaner classes than 20% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
1,551
Bigger than 96% of US schools by enrollment, a large campus nationally.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
57.8%
free-lunch eligible - 12% below the North Carolina average of 66.0%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
18.9:1
students per teacher - 20% above state mean
Top 86% in North Carolina - lower ratio than 14% of state schools
Between 16:1 and 20:1, squarely in the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
57.4%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$12,412
per pupil, district-wide - above North Carolina avg of $12,017
Well below the U.S. average per-pupil spend, a notably leaner funding position that may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors5.0 FTE
Per 310 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
149
in-school suspensions + 182 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 9.6 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 21.3 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 2 expulsions.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

African American 48.8%
White 22.2%
Hispanic or Latino 16.3%
Two or More 9.5%
Asian 2.2%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.8%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.3%

Largest group: African American at 48.8% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 67.6/100

Simpson diversity index - at 67.6, Pine Forest High is more mixed than the North Carolina school average of 56.1.

Programs

AP courses offered 15
Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Cumberland County Schools, which includes Pine Forest High.

$12,412
Per student
+3%
vs North Carolina
Avg $12,017
-25%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 16.5%
State 57.7%
Federal 25.7%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

How Pine Forest High Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Jack Britt High Larger Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio
Cape Fear High Similar size Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio
South View High Similar size Similar economic need Lower S:T ratio
Gray's Creek High Similar size Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio
Seventy-First High Similar size Similar economic need Lower S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Pine Forest High's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Cumberland County Schools · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar high schools in Fayetteville

6 comparable high schools (grades 9-12) serving the same city.

Similar high schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of North Carolina, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Pine Forest High's federal record.

Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.

Frequently asked questions about Pine Forest High

How many students attend Pine Forest High?

Pine Forest High has 1,551 students enrolled. It is a high school in Fayetteville, NC.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Pine Forest High?

The student-teacher ratio at Pine Forest High is 18.9:1, which is 20% higher than the North Carolina average of 15.8:1 and 20% higher than the national average of 15.7:1.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Pine Forest High?

57.8% of students at Pine Forest High are eligible for free lunch, compared to the North Carolina average of 66.0%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Pine Forest High?

The largest demographic group at Pine Forest High is African American at 48.8% of enrollment, in Fayetteville, NC. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 67.6/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Pine Forest High?

Pine Forest High has a Resource Investment Index of 41/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Pine Forest High rank among high schools in Fayetteville?

By Resource Investment Index, Pine Forest High ranks #15 of 15 high schools in Fayetteville, NC. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all high schools in Fayetteville on the city page.

Is Pine Forest High a good school?

Pine Forest High earns 41/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 86% of North Carolina schools. It is also one of the largest schools in North Carolina. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Cumberland County Schools?

Besides Pine Forest High, Cumberland County Schools also operates Jack Britt High (1,940 students), Cape Fear High (1,515 students), and South View High (1,461 students). See the Cumberland County Schools district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.