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
191	Alpha Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	8030 Raeford Road	Fayetteville	28304	Cumberland County	Alpha Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(910) 223-7711	960	55	17.5	67.5%	109 (11.4%)	509 (53.0%)	203 (21.1%)	23 (2.4%)	9 (0.9%)	15 (1.6%)	92 (9.6%)								70.8	70.4	207	16		370010302511
192	Mountain Discovery	Public, Charter	K-8	890 Jenkins Branch Rd N	Bryson City	28713	Swain County	Mountain Discovery Charter School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(828) 488-1222	221	14	16.2		174 (78.7%)	4 (1.8%)	3 (1.4%)	3 (1.4%)	17 (7.7%)	1 (0.5%)	19 (8.6%)								70.7	60.9	282	90		370012902614
193	Piney Grove Middle School	Public	6-8	3415 Piney Grove Church Road	Lawsonville	27022	Stokes County	Stokes County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 593-4000	189	17	11.2	98.4%	165 (87.3%)	4 (2.1%)	13 (6.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.7%)	$10,513			$712			$9,800	70.6	67	232	39		370438002484
194	Bradford Preparatory School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2502 Salome Church Rd	Charlotte	28262	Mecklenburg County	Bradford Preparatory School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 549-0080	1,566	107	14.6		666 (42.5%)	542 (34.6%)	163 (10.4%)	74 (4.7%)	3 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	118 (7.5%)								70.6	70.6	204	10		370035603329
195	Career Academy and Technical School	Public	6-12	350 Old Murdock Rd	Troutman	28166	Iredell County	Iredell-Statesville Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 978-2791	103	17	6.1	18.4%	90 (87.4%)	7 (6.8%)	4 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.9%)	$13,148			$1,046			$12,102	70.5			(n/a)		370231003206
196	Moncure School	Public	K-8	600 Moncure School Road	Moncure	27559	Chatham County	Chatham County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 542-3725	176	14	13	98.3%	98 (55.7%)	23 (13.1%)	44 (25.0%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (5.1%)	$11,877			$805			$11,072	70.5	64.3	258	62		370075000312
197	Francine Delany New School	Public, Charter	K-8	119 Brevard Road	Asheville	28806	Buncombe County	Francine Delany New School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(828) 236-9441	193	15	12.8		108 (56.0%)	41 (21.2%)	17 (8.8%)	4 (2.1%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (11.4%)								70.4	83.4	106	91		370001702069
198	Culbreth Middle	Public	6-8	225 Culbreth Rd	Chapel Hill	27516	Orange County	Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 929-7161	632	52	12	33.9%	287 (45.4%)	69 (10.9%)	190 (30.1%)	29 (4.6%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (8.7%)	$12,195			$336			$11,860	70.3	69.8	210	12		370072000301
199	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%)	$7,738			$507			$7,231	70.3	72.3	191	8		370462001800
200	Lufkin Road Middle	Public	6-8	1002 Lufkin Road	Apex	27539	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 387-4465	1,035	62	16.8	33.5%	499 (48.2%)	117 (11.3%)	228 (22.0%)	159 (15.4%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	29 (2.8%)	$9,106			$406			$8,700	70.2	80.9	125	75		370472002490

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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.