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
401	James E Shepard Middle	Public, Magnet	6-8	2401 Dakota Street	Durham	27707	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(919) 560-3938	423	29	14.5	98.6%	10 (2.4%)	263 (62.2%)	129 (30.5%)	5 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (3.8%)	$11,998			$1,606			$10,392	48.3	47.7	416	15		370126000441
402	Druid Hills Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	2801 Lucena Ave	Charlotte	28206	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(980) 343-5515	288	30	9.7	99.0%	7 (2.4%)	172 (59.7%)	90 (31.3%)	5 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (4.9%)	$15,769			$2,330			$13,439	48.2	18.7	670	268		370297001213
403	Rising Leaders Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	2732 Industrial Drive	Sanford	27332	Lee County	Rising Leaders Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 745-1442	282	28	9.9	98.2%	55 (19.5%)	107 (37.9%)	84 (29.8%)	4 (1.4%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (11.0%)								48	24.5	623	220		370046603530
404	Northeastern Randolph Middle School	Public	6-8	3493 Ramseur Julian Road	Liberty	27298	Randolph County	Randolph County School System	No	No	No	No	(336) 622-5808	476	26	18.5	99.4%	324 (68.1%)	16 (3.4%)	112 (23.5%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (4.4%)	$8,362			$533			$7,828	48	53.6	352	52		370378002475
405	Reynolds Middle	Public	6-8	2 Rocket Drive	Asheville	28803	Buncombe County	Buncombe County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 298-7484	490	33	15	98.2%	256 (52.2%)	102 (20.8%)	82 (16.7%)	9 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (8.4%)	$10,391			$728			$9,664	47.9	54.5	342	63		370045000134
406	Harold E. Winkler Middle	Public, Magnet	6-8	4501 Weddington Rd NW	Concord	28027	Cabarrus County	Cabarrus County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(704) 260-6450	1,094	63	17.3	62.2%	317 (29.0%)	292 (26.7%)	352 (32.2%)	54 (4.9%)	4 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	73 (6.7%)	$8,533			$668			$7,865	47.8	79.9	132	274		370053003188
407	Hudson Middle	Public	6-8	291 Pine Mountain Road	Hudson	28638	Caldwell County	Caldwell County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 728-4281	551	33	16.6	98.9%	456 (82.8%)	6 (1.1%)	66 (12.0%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (3.6%)	$9,317			$1,021			$8,296	47.8	60	289	118		370058000233
408	Mallard Creek STEM Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	9142 Browne Rd	Charlotte	28269	Mecklenburg County	Mallard Creek STEM Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(980) 288-4811	961	72	13.4	97.1%	18 (1.9%)	737 (76.7%)	106 (11.0%)	23 (2.4%)	6 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	71 (7.4%)								47.6	51.9	376	32		370041003390
409	Trexler Middle	Public	6-8	112 East Foy Street	Richlands	28574	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 324-4414	770	42	18.3	50.5%	504 (65.5%)	76 (9.9%)	119 (15.5%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	63 (8.2%)	$7,777			$744			$7,033	47.6	38.8	498	89		370345001438
410	Iredell Charter Academy of Arts &Science	Public, Charter	K-8	251 Home Improvement Street	Troutman	28166	Iredell County	Iredell Charter Academy of Arts & Scienc	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 508-0104	795	20	40.1	55.3%	410 (51.6%)	133 (16.7%)	142 (17.9%)	21 (2.6%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	86 (10.8%)								47.5	60.6	283	127		370040003398

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on 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.