Best Middle Schools in North Carolina

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Find the best North Carolina middle schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish North Carolina test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the EOG test scores by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction. The most recent update was on Wednesday, September 3, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 773)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
171	East Wake Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	821 Charter School Way	Zebulon	27597	Wake County	East Wake Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 404-0444	1,265	88	14.3		872 (68.9%)	161 (12.7%)	138 (10.9%)	12 (0.9%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	80 (6.3%)								74.2	73.1	186	15		370007002416
172	New Dimensions	Public, Charter	K-8	550 Lenoir Road	Morganton	28655	Burke County	The New Dimensions School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(828) 437-5753	569	39	14.7	33.0%	500 (87.9%)	21 (3.7%)	13 (2.3%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (5.4%)								74	79.6	135	37		370011802603
173	M C S Noble Middle	Public	6-8	6520 Market St	Wilmington	28405	New Hanover County	New Hanover County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 350-2112	690	40	17.3	38.3%	473 (68.6%)	86 (12.5%)	92 (13.3%)	7 (1.0%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (4.3%)	$9,109			$612			$8,497	73.9	80.9	124	49		370333001381
174	Cove Creek Elementary	Public	PK, KG-8	930 Vanderpool Rd	Vilas	28692	Watauga County	Watauga County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 297-2781	289	23	12.6	41.2%	252 (87.2%)	2 (0.7%)	22 (7.6%)	9 (3.1%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.0%)	$12,375			$859			$11,515	73.8	71	200	26		370483001936
175	Wakefield Middle	Public	6-8	2300 Wakefield Pines Drive	Raleigh	27614	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 562-3500	803	45	17.7	31.4%	446 (55.5%)	163 (20.3%)	125 (15.6%)	23 (2.9%)	6 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	39 (4.9%)	$8,502			$321			$8,181	73.8	82.1	114	61		370472002559
176	Carolina Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	8529 NC Highway 55	Angier	27501	Wake County	Carolina Charter Academy: CFA	Yes	No	No	Yes	(984) 300-3015	782	49	15.9		403 (51.5%)	80 (10.2%)	136 (17.4%)	103 (13.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	60 (7.7%)								73.8	73.1	185	9		370042303461
177	Herbert Akins Road Middle	Public	6-8	2275 Herbert Akins Road	Fuquay Varina	27526	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(919) 694-8300	1,253	77	16.2	33.5%	730 (58.3%)	136 (10.9%)	279 (22.3%)	56 (4.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (4.1%)								73.6	76.8	154	23		370472003626
178	John R Griffin Middle	Public	6-8	5551 Fisher Road	Fayetteville	28304	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 424-7678	1,024	58	17.7	41.3%	345 (33.7%)	265 (25.9%)	227 (22.2%)	67 (6.5%)	18 (1.8%)	3 (0.3%)	99 (9.7%)	$8,311			$843			$7,468	73.5	76.1	162	16		370001102439
179	Cleveland Innovation	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	400 W Marion St	Shelby	28150	Cleveland County	Cleveland County Schools	No	No	Yes	No	(704) 476-8163	187	13	14.2	56.7%	124 (66.3%)	28 (15.0%)	16 (8.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (9.6%)								73.4	58.8	297	118		370090003537
180	Kernodle Middle	Public	6-8	3600 Drawbridge Parkway	Greensboro	27410	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 545-3717	707	42	16.9	98.2%	316 (44.7%)	180 (25.5%)	83 (11.7%)	92 (13.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (5.0%)	$9,002			$474			$8,529	73.3	84.3	102	78		370192002523

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for North Carolina

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for NC student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Homeless Students Gifted and Talented Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on EOG Mathematics, EOG Reading, EOG Science test scores released by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.
These rankings were last updated on September 3, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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.