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
291	Clemmons Middle School	Public	6-8	3785 Fraternity Church Road	Winston Salem	27127	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 703-4217	1,092	60	18.1	98.4%	360 (33.0%)	318 (29.1%)	288 (26.4%)	61 (5.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	64 (5.9%)	$7,723			$553			$7,171	58.8	54.7	339	48		370150002447
292	Marjorie Williams Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	129 Allen Circle	Newland	28657	Avery County	Marjorie Williams Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(828) 733-5241	130	20	6.5	96.9%	95 (73.1%)	14 (10.8%)	17 (13.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.1%)								58.7	64.7	253	39		370007702427
293	Southern Middle	Public	6-8	717 Johnson Street	Aberdeen	28315	Moore County	Moore County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 693-1550	620	39	15.8	98.9%	301 (48.5%)	140 (22.6%)	100 (16.1%)	11 (1.8%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	65 (10.5%)	$9,266			$896			$8,370	58.5	64.9	250	43		370309002533
294	Princeton High	Public	6-12	101 Dr Donnie H Jones Jr Blvd	Princeton	27569	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 936-5011	988	52	19.1	99.2%	626 (63.4%)	90 (9.1%)	223 (22.6%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (4.6%)	$9,669			$525			$9,144	58.3	62.6	270	24		370237001023
295	Rosewood Middle	Public	6-8	541 NC 581 South	Goldsboro	27530	Wayne County	Wayne County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 736-5050	302	19	15.6	99.0%	174 (57.6%)	43 (14.2%)	58 (19.2%)	2 (0.7%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (7.9%)	$11,009			$1,275			$9,734	58.3	66.4	237	58		370488002497
296	PCS Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	PK, KG-12	1010 Ridge Rd	Roxboro	27573	Person County	Person County Schools	No	No	Yes	No	(336) 599-1089	48	6	8.3	43.8%	34 (70.8%)	6 (12.5%)	5 (10.4%)	2 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.1%)								58.1			(n/a)		370363003581
297	Elkin Middle	Public	7-8	300 Elk Spur St	Elkin	28621	Surry County	Elkin City Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 835-3175	193	14	13.6	49.7%	132 (68.4%)	4 (2.1%)	44 (22.8%)	6 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.6%)	$9,240			$218			$9,022	58	69.8	211	86		370138002797
298	Mabel Elementary	Public	PK, KG-8	404 Mabel School Road	Zionville	28698	Watauga County	Watauga County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 297-2512	140	16	8.8	66.4%	128 (91.4%)	1 (0.7%)	6 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.6%)	$13,398			$1,416			$11,982	58	56	322	24		370483001939
299	Maiden Middle School	Public	7-8	518 North C Avenue	Maiden	28650	Catawba County	Catawba County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 428-2326	451	28	16.4	98.9%	292 (64.7%)	21 (4.7%)	71 (15.7%)	38 (8.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (6.4%)	$8,168			$563			$7,604	57.8	62.8	267	32		370069002884
300	Lake Lure Classical Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1058 Island Creek Rd.	Lake Lure	28746	Rutherford County	Lake Lure Classical Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(828) 625-9292	481	27	17.6		394 (81.9%)	17 (3.5%)	27 (5.6%)	4 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	37 (7.7%)								57.7	76.2	159	141		370031803187

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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.