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
301	Down East Middle and Smyrna Elementary	Public	PK, KG-8	174 Marshallberg Rd	Smyrna	28579	Carteret County	Carteret County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 729-2301	262	22	11.9	98.9%	247 (94.3%)	2 (0.8%)	8 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.9%)	$11,100			$1,229			$9,871	57.5	56.1	320	19		370063000258
302	Charlotte East Language Academy	Public, Magnet	K-8	6108 Wilora Lake Rd	Charlotte	28212	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(980) 343-0380	594	51	11.6	99.5%	43 (7.2%)	40 (6.7%)	496 (83.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	11 (1.9%)	$12,246			$1,264			$10,982	57.4	33	548	246		370297003467
303	South Brunswick Middle	Public	6-8	100 Cougar Drive BSL	Southport	28461	Brunswick County	Brunswick County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 756-6870	585	36	16.2	99.5%	432 (73.8%)	44 (7.5%)	50 (8.5%)	8 (1.4%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (8.4%)	$9,300			$1,106			$8,194	57.2	54.2	347	44		370042002152
304	Rockingham County Middle	Public	6-8	182 High School Road	Reidsville	27320	Rockingham County	Rockingham County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 616-0073	750	41	18.2	99.6%	557 (74.3%)	84 (11.2%)	69 (9.2%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (4.8%)	$8,169			$807			$7,362	57.2	69.7	212	92		370399002476
305	Mount Airy Middle	Public	6-8	249 Hamburg Street	Mount Airy	27030	Surry County	Mount Airy City Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 789-9021	395	31	12.7	99.2%	234 (59.2%)	24 (6.1%)	102 (25.8%)	11 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (6.1%)	$10,309			$806			$9,503	56.7	66	241	64		370321001340
306	Faith Academy Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-10	420 North Main Street	Faith	28041	Rowan County	Faith Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 603-8437	938	65	14.4		820 (87.4%)	19 (2.0%)	45 (4.8%)	10 (1.1%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (4.5%)								56.6	53.8	350	44		370047503568
307	Northeast Academy of Aerospace & AdvTech	Public, Charter	5-12	1413 W Ehringhaus St	Elizabeth City	27909	Pasquotank County	Northeast Academy of Aerospace & AdvTech	Yes	No	No	Yes	(252) 562-0653	760	43	17.8	33.7%	478 (62.9%)	155 (20.4%)	44 (5.8%)	12 (1.6%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	68 (8.9%)								56.6	65.5	244	63		370039403360
308	Island Montessori Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	6339 Carolina Beach Rd	Wilmington	28412	New Hanover County	Island Montessori Charter	Yes	No	No	No	(910) 795-4860	220	19	11.5		185 (84.1%)	1 (0.5%)	14 (6.4%)	5 (2.3%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (6.4%)								56.6	61.5	276	32		370033203283
309	Currituck County Middle	Public	6-8	4263 Caratoke Hwy	Barco	27917	Currituck County	Currituck County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 453-2171	435	27	16.4	50.3%	299 (68.7%)	19 (4.4%)	74 (17.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	42 (9.7%)	$10,871			$394			$10,477	56.5	55.6	327	18		370108000451
310	Madison Middle School	Public	6-8	95 Upper Brush Creek Rd	Marshall	28753	Madison County	Madison County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 649-2269	468	40	11.8	99.4%	422 (90.2%)	2 (0.4%)	28 (6.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	13 (2.8%)	$10,566			$689			$9,878	56.5	71.7	194	116		370282000599

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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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.