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
261	J N Fries Magnet School	Public, Magnet	6-8	133 Stonecrest Circle SW	Concord	28027	Cabarrus County	Cabarrus County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(704) 260-6510	755	44	17.3	50.9%	294 (38.9%)	190 (25.2%)	163 (21.6%)	51 (6.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	56 (7.4%)	$8,307			$482			$7,825	63.1	74.5	172	89		370053002260
262	Southwestern Randolph Middle School	Public	6-8	1509 Hopewell Friends Rd	Asheboro	27205	Randolph County	Randolph County School System	No	No	No	No	(336) 628-8344	467	25	18.6	99.4%	283 (60.6%)	5 (1.1%)	155 (33.2%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (4.5%)	$8,606			$722			$7,884	62.8	49.3	398	136		370378002276
263	Wilson Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2755 Tilghman Rd N	Wilson	27896	Wilson County	Wilson Preparatory Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(252) 294-2533	725	41	17.6	98.6%	39 (5.4%)	566 (78.1%)	65 (9.0%)	5 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (6.8%)								62.8	63.7	261	2		370037903323
264	Matthews Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	2332 Mount Harmony Church Rd.	Matthews	28104	Mecklenburg County	Matthews Charter Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(980) 339-5449	771	34	22.3	57.5%	288 (37.4%)	217 (28.1%)	174 (22.6%)	30 (3.9%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	58 (7.5%)								62.8	54.5	343	79		370040503392
265	Valley Springs Middle	Public	5-8	224 Long Shoals Road	Arden	28704	Buncombe County	Buncombe County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 654-1785	654	46	14.3	99.5%	335 (51.2%)	71 (10.9%)	176 (26.9%)	21 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.9%)	45 (6.9%)	$11,876			$1,485			$10,391	62.6	57.1	312	47		370045000165
266	The Mountain Community School	Public, Charter	K-8	613 Glover Street	Hendersonville	28792	Henderson County	The Mountain Community School	Yes	No	No	No	(828) 696-8480	190	13	14.1		158 (83.2%)	2 (1.1%)	17 (8.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (6.8%)								62.4	65.1	247	19		370008502458
267	Dixon Middle	Public	6-8	118 Ridgefield Ave	Sneads Ferry	28460	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 347-2738	997	54	18.4	34.3%	708 (71.0%)	52 (5.2%)	148 (14.8%)	8 (0.8%)	5 (0.5%)	3 (0.3%)	73 (7.3%)	$7,866			$808			$7,058	62.2	62.5	271	4		370345002271
268	Central Davidson Middle	Public	6-8	2591 NC Hwy 47	Lexington	27292	Davidson County	Davidson County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 357-2310	686	42	16.5	99.6%	491 (71.6%)	30 (4.4%)	106 (15.5%)	5 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	54 (7.9%)	$7,612			$756			$6,856	61.9	56.1	321	53		370114000458
269	Stanley Middle	Public	6-8	317 Hovis Road	Stanley	28164	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 836-9600	602	38	15.6	99.5%	357 (59.3%)	87 (14.5%)	112 (18.6%)	7 (1.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (6.3%)	$8,317			$777			$7,540	61.7	54.4	344	75		370162000713
270	Four Oaks Middle	Public	6-8	1475 Boyette Road	Four Oaks	27524	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 963-4022	477	31	15.3	98.1%	235 (49.3%)	66 (13.8%)	152 (31.9%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	22 (4.6%)	$9,812			$944			$8,868	61.6	60.2	286	16		370237002304

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for North Carolina

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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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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.