Best Middle Schools in Zip Code 99701

Zip code 99701 in Fairbanks, Alaska is served by three public middle schools—Tanana Middle School, Ryan Middle School, and Randy Smith Middle School—all teaching grades 6 through 8 and belonging to the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, which ranks 14th out of 23 Alaska districts overall.

Randy Smith Middle School is the clear academic leader in the area. It ranks 47th out of 90 Alaska middle schools for 2025–26 and earns 2 stars, while Tanana and Ryan each receive 1 star. Randy Smith is the only school in the zip code above the state average in every subject—ELA, math, and science—and it also has the lowest poverty rate (29.3% free/reduced lunch) and the highest per-student spending ($20,887). Tanana is the largest school with 523 students and showed strong one-year improvements in 2025–26, especially in math (+5.04 points) and science (+6.72 points). Its 8th-grade students outperform state averages in ELA and math. Ryan Middle School, however, is the most struggling school: it ranks 75th out of 90, sits below district and state averages in every subject, and has the highest poverty rate at 48.6%.

Academic performance closely tracks poverty across these schools—Randy Smith leads, Tanana falls in the middle, and Ryan trails. Yet spending and class size do not explain the gap: Ryan spends more per student than Tanana yet scores below Tanana in every tested area, and Ryan has the same student-teacher ratio as Randy Smith but trails Randy Smith by roughly 13 points in ELA and 18 points in science. Ryan also shows a concerning grade-level trend, with 6th graders scoring near state averages but 8th graders falling far behind. No school in the zip code reaches majority proficiency in any subject, but Randy Smith remains the top choice, while Tanana is improving and Ryan faces the biggest challenges.