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Middle Schools in Union County Public Schools

At a glance

DistrictUnion County Public Schools43^rd of 246 North Carolina districtsFull district overview →

Schools

9,624

Students

5-star schools

Top rankedMarvin Ridge Middle13^th of 778 North Carolina middle schools

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Biggest riser

Parkwood Middle up 95 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Sun Valley Middle 16.3 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

5★

4★

2★

1★

Compare North Carolina districts →See the top-ranked North Carolina schools →

Summary:

Union County Public Schools operates nine middle schools serving grades 6–8 across the Charlotte, North Carolina area, enrolling roughly 9,624 students. The district ranks 43rd of 246 in North Carolina with a 4-star rating, but that overall strength masks a wide internal divide. Marvin Ridge Middle (13th of 778), Weddington Middle (15th), and Cuthbertson Middle (19th) are all 5-star schools with EOG proficiency frequently above 90 percent in math and science. At the other end, Monroe Middle (625th) holds a 1-star rating and East Union Middle (474th) a 2-star rating; both serve student bodies where 99.6 percent qualify for free/reduced-price lunch.

Sun Valley Middle is the district's most improved school, climbing from 329th in 2023-2024 to 112th in 2025-2026 even though 54.4 percent of its students qualify for free/reduced-price lunch and its chronic absenteeism rate is 23.3 percent. Parkwood Middle has risen steadily from 354th to 176th, with EOG proficiency improving from roughly 58 percent to 68 percent. Meanwhile, Porter Ridge Middle School — the district's largest middle school with 1,447 students — has declined for three straight years, from 72nd to 177th, despite a poverty rate (39.7 percent) lower than several improving schools.

Clear patterns emerge for parents comparing these schools. Reading proficiency lags math across the district, and the gap is widest in higher-poverty schools: East Union Middle posts 62.8 percent proficiency in 8th grade math but just 39.9 percent in 8th grade reading. Chronic absenteeism mirrors performance, with the top schools between 7.3 and 11 percent and Monroe Middle at 28.7 percent. Higher per-pupil spending does not close the achievement gap — Monroe and East Union each spend more than $11,400 per student, while the top-ranked schools spend about $6,700 to $7,100. In short, Union County contains some of the best middle schools in North Carolina, but the gap between its elite, low-poverty schools and its high-poverty, lower-performing schools is the district's defining challenge.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				EOG Mathematics (2026)			EOG Reading (2026)			EOG Science (2026)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/reduced lunch (2024-25)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	EOG Mathematics 6th Grade	EOG Mathematics 7th Grade	EOG Mathematics 8th Grade	EOG Reading 6th Grade	EOG Reading 7th Grade	EOG Reading 8th Grade	EOG Science 8th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Monroe Middle	Public	6-8	601 E Sunset Drive	Monroe	28112	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-3120	802	46	17.6	—	38 (4.7%)	209 (26.1%)	524 (65.3%)	4 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	25 (3.1%)	23	625^th of 778 public middle schools	19.7%		15.7	679^th of 773 public middle schools	12.2%	54	43.3	44.8	48.9	25.3	35.9	35.2	56.1	$11,427	$1,174	$10,252
East Union Middle	Public	6-8	6010 W Marshville Blvd	Marshville	28103	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 290-1540	683	40	17.1	—	181 (26.5%)	176 (25.8%)	293 (42.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (4.5%)	40.7	474^th of 778 public middle schools	39.1%		31.9	528^th of 773 public middle schools	31.7%	54	60.1	59.1	62.8	31.1	45.9	39.9	60.7	$11,471	$1,160	$10,311
Parkwood Middle	Public	6-8	3219 Parkwood School Rd	Monroe	28112	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-0655	879	44	20.1	47.2%	551 (62.7%)	94 (10.7%)	171 (19.5%)	8 (0.9%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	54 (6.1%)	75.2	176^th of 778 public middle schools	77.4%		61.6	271^st of 773 public middle schools	64.9%	95	72.0	67.5	60.2	68.5	65.9	66.4	78.4	$8,571	$578	$7,993
Piedmont Middle	Public	6-8	2816 Sikes Mill Rd	Monroe	28110	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-6350	980	53	18.4	40.8%	643 (65.6%)	58 (5.9%)	222 (22.7%)	28 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (3.0%)	69.8	208^th of 778 public middle schools	73.3%		70.3	199^th of 773 public middle schools	74.3%	9	69.3	70.1	72.9	65.0	57.7	55.7	72.9	$7,738	$507	$7,231
Sun Valley Middle	Public	6-8	1409 Wesley Chapel Rd	Indian Trail	28079	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-3009	909	56	16.3	54.3%	441 (48.5%)	177 (19.5%)	213 (23.4%)	29 (3.2%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	47 (5.2%)	82.1	112^th of 778 public middle schools	85.6%		81.8	119^th of 773 public middle schools	84.6%	7	78.4	81.8	71.9	65.2	67.6	68.4	80.3	$7,578	$417	$7,161
Weddington Middle	Public	6-8	5903 Deal Road	Matthews	28104	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-6318	1,324	65	20.3	7.3%	770 (58.2%)	85 (6.4%)	101 (7.6%)	308 (23.3%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	58 (4.4%)	97	15^th of 778 public middle schools	98.1%		97.4	14^th of 773 public middle schools	98.2%	1	93.0	93.3	96.2	85.4	86.2	86.8	95.2	$6,716	$201	$6,515
Porter Ridge Middle School	Public	6-8	2827 Ridge Road	Indian Trail	28079	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 225-7555	1,447	63	23.0	39.7%	688 (47.5%)	191 (13.2%)	349 (24.1%)	118 (8.2%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	100 (6.9%)	75.2	177^th of 778 public middle schools	77.2%		79.7	139^th of 773 public middle schools	82.0%	38	74.8	68.8	67.4	68.4	67.0	62.9	71.1	$7,814	$463	$7,351
Marvin Ridge Middle	Public	6-8	2831 Crane Road	Waxhaw	28173	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 290-1510	1,277	64	19.9	4.5%	723 (56.6%)	58 (4.5%)	75 (5.9%)	344 (26.9%)	4 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	71 (5.6%)	97.2	13^th of 778 public middle schools	98.3%		98.2	7^th of 773 public middle schools	99.1%	6	560.3	94.5	91.7	88.0	91.8	87.3	94.6	$7,118	$318	$6,800
Cuthbertson Middle	Public	6-8	1520 Cuthbertson Rd	Waxhaw	28173	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-0107	1,323	59	22.4	11.0%	875 (66.1%)	78 (5.9%)	125 (9.4%)	176 (13.3%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	66 (5.0%)	96.4	19^th of 778 public middle schools	97.6%		95.1	33^rd of 773 public middle schools	95.7%	14	91.1	90.4	90.8	84.5	86.2	85.5	94.5	$6,904	$387	$6,516

Districts nearby

District	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Monroe Charter Academy	4.65 mi	1
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	8.78 mi	187	105^th
Union Day School	9.42 mi	1
ALA Monroe	9.76 mi	1	214^th
Telra Institute	10.28 mi	2

See the top NC North Carolina districts

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.