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
511	CIS Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	818 West 3rd Street	Pembroke	28372	Robeson County	CIS Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(910) 521-1669	114	9	13.3	61.4%	2 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	103 (90.4%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.4%)								34.8	32.4	551	40		370004002349
512	Jacksonville Commons Middle	Public	6-8	315 Commons Drive South	Jacksonville	28546	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 346-6888	918	54	17	62.6%	283 (30.8%)	301 (32.8%)	197 (21.5%)	26 (2.8%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	108 (11.8%)	$7,843			$907			$6,936	34.5	27.4	591	79		370345002339
513	Swain County Middle School	Public	6-8	135 Arlington Ave	Bryson City	28713	Swain County	Swain County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 488-3480	453	27	16.5	99.3%	278 (61.4%)	2 (0.4%)	32 (7.1%)	2 (0.4%)	88 (19.4%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (11.3%)	$12,023			$1,993			$10,030	34.4	52.4	368	145		370444002314
514	Glade Creek Elementary	Public	PK, KG-8	32 Glade Creek Sch Road	Ennice	28623	Alleghany County	Alleghany County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 657-3388	236	17	14	98.7%	159 (67.4%)	0 (0.0%)	75 (31.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	$12,782			$1,440			$11,341	34.4	48.3	411	103		370012000038
515	Kestrel Heights School	Public, Charter	K-8	4700 South Alston Ave.	Durham	27713	Durham County	Kestrel Heights School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 484-1300	421	29	14.4	56.3%	29 (6.9%)	244 (58.0%)	86 (20.4%)	29 (6.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (7.8%)								34.2	45.8	429	86		370005502376
516	East Garner Middle	Public, Magnet	6-8	6301 Jones Sausage Rd	Garner	27529	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(919) 662-2339	1,109	71	15.6	99.7%	148 (13.3%)	514 (46.3%)	355 (32.0%)	51 (4.6%)	4 (0.4%)	3 (0.3%)	34 (3.1%)	$8,808			$540			$8,269	34.1	25	619	103		370472001853
517	Allen Jay Middle - A Preparatory Academy	Public, Magnet	5-8	1201 East Fairfield Rd	High Point	27263	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(336) 819-2164	392	24	16.3	98.7%	35 (8.9%)	253 (64.5%)	54 (13.8%)	24 (6.1%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.5%)	23 (5.9%)	$10,175			$860			$9,314	34	57	315	202		370192003295
518	Walkertown Middle	Public	6-8	5240 Sullivantown Road	Walkertown	27051	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 703-4154	617	42	14.5	99.4%	180 (29.2%)	214 (34.7%)	196 (31.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (4.4%)	$8,991			$819			$8,172	33.8	23.8	629	111		370150000646
519	Gov's Village STEM (Upper)	Public, Magnet	5-8	7810 Neal Rd	Charlotte	28262	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(980) 343-5775	684	37	18.5	99.6%	11 (1.6%)	395 (57.7%)	212 (31.0%)	39 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (3.9%)	$8,809			$242			$8,567	33.1	31	557	38		370297002396
520	A.C.E. Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	7807 Caldwell Road	Harrisburg	28075	Cabarrus County	A.C.E. Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 456-7153	421	28	14.7	97.9%	9 (2.1%)	323 (76.7%)	68 (16.2%)	7 (1.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.1%)								33	38.4	503	17		370037203324

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.