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
461	Ellerbe Middle	Public	6-8	128 W Ballard Street	Ellerbe	28338	Richmond County	Richmond County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 582-7925	182	14	13	98.4%	64 (35.2%)	40 (22.0%)	52 (28.6%)	3 (1.6%)	5 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (9.9%)	$10,518			$2,016			$8,502	41.3	46.4	426	35		370387001549
462	The School for Creative Studies	Public, Magnet	6-12	5001 Red Mill Rd	Durham	27704	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 560-3535	350	34	10.2	98.9%	46 (13.1%)	171 (48.9%)	112 (32.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (5.4%)	$12,022			$1,332			$10,689	41.1	49.1	402	60		370126000531
463	Elizabeth City Middle	Public	6-8	1066 Northside Road	Elizabeth City	27909	Pasquotank County	Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 335-2974	484	30	16.1	99.4%	158 (32.6%)	212 (43.8%)	74 (15.3%)	5 (1.0%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (6.6%)	$9,183			$802			$8,381	40.7	34.7	533	70		370354001453
464	Rolesville Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	908 Eagle Scholars Drive	Rolesville	27571	Wake County	Rolesville Charter Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 263-1422	716	35	20.6	59.1%	274 (38.3%)	259 (36.2%)	117 (16.3%)	41 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	24 (3.4%)								40.6	47.9	414	50		370043303454
465	Eastern Wayne Middle	Public	6-8	3518 Central Heights Rd	Goldsboro	27534	Wayne County	Wayne County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 751-7110	427	23	18.9	97.4%	54 (12.6%)	245 (57.4%)	87 (20.4%)	8 (1.9%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (7.3%)	$9,024			$1,286			$7,738	40.5	16.3	695	230		370488001951
466	Global Scholars Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	311 Dowd St	Durham	27701	Durham County	Global Scholars Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 682-5903	201	17	11.8	98.5%	0 (0.0%)	77 (38.3%)	121 (60.2%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)								40.5	41.1	474	8		370031603198
467	R Max Abbott Middle	Public	6-8	590 Winding Creek Road	Fayetteville	28305	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 323-2201	704	43	16.3	98.3%	185 (26.3%)	326 (46.3%)	107 (15.2%)	29 (4.1%)	6 (0.9%)	1 (0.1%)	50 (7.1%)	$9,660			$1,186			$8,474	40.4	46.3	428	39		370001102127
468	Northview Middle	Public	6-8	302 28th Avenue NE	Hickory	28601	Catawba County	Hickory City Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 327-6300	481	28	17.3	99.4%	191 (39.7%)	86 (17.9%)	110 (22.9%)	24 (5.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	68 (14.1%)	$8,178			$747			$7,431	40.4	49	404	64		370219000940
469	Starmount Middle	Public	6-9	2626 Longtown Rd	Boonville	27011	Yadkin County	Yadkin County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 551-1160	502	27	18.7	99.4%	307 (61.2%)	8 (1.6%)	149 (29.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (7.4%)	$9,584			$874			$8,710	40.3	44.9	437	32		370504003099
470	Scotts Creek School	Public	PK, KG-8	516 Parris Branch	Sylva	28779	Jackson County	Jackson County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 631-2740	422	29	14.6	98.6%	290 (68.7%)	9 (2.1%)	75 (17.8%)	6 (1.4%)	12 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (7.1%)	$9,973			$1,203			$8,770	39.9	40.7	478	8		370234001007

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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.