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
761	River Oaks Middle	Public	6-8	4700 New Bern Ave	Raleigh	27610	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 231-5600	7	19	0.3		1 (14.3%)	5 (71.4%)	1 (14.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$33,564			$1,102			$32,462	2.2	6.4	761			370472002804
762	AdVance Academy	Public	6-12	219 Charles Street	Henderson	27536	Vance County	Vance County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 438-8407	112	7	15	97.3%	6 (5.4%)	93 (83.0%)	10 (8.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.7%)	$14,199			$413			$13,786	2.2	1.1	791	29		370465001993
763	Lakeview School	Public	6-12	3507 Dearborn Drive	Durham	27704	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 560-2520	52	19	2.8	94.2%	3 (5.8%)	32 (61.5%)	8 (15.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (17.3%)	$45,258			$734			$44,524	1.7	1.2	788	25		370126002517
764	Wayne Middle / High Academy	Public	6-12	1135 E. New Hope Rd	Goldsboro	27534	Wayne County	Wayne County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 580-3609	92	7	13.7	96.7%	11 (12.0%)	62 (67.4%)	13 (14.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (4.3%)	$17,211			$1,677			$15,535	1.7	3	776	12		370488003147
765	Rutherford Opportunity Center	Public	6-12	140 Old Caroleen Road	Forest City	28043	Rutherford County	Rutherford County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 248-5294	82	10	8.2	96.3%	58 (70.7%)	12 (14.6%)	5 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (8.5%)	$26,764			$1,648			$25,116	1.3	1.5	785	20		370408002607
766	Ray Street Academy	Public	6-12	609 Ray Street	Graham	27253	Alamance County	Alamance-Burlington Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 570-6644	36	15	2.4	91.7%	12 (33.3%)	17 (47.2%)	7 (19.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$33,251			$3,956			$29,295	1.2	9.6	736	30		370003002153
767	J. C. Roe Center	Public	6-12	2875 Worth Drive	Wilmington	28412	New Hanover County	New Hanover County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 395-4472	14	12	1.2	78.6%	1 (7.1%)	5 (35.7%)	3 (21.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (35.7%)	$34,575			$1,445			$33,130	1	1.6	782	15		370333002213
768	Warlick Academy	Public	6-12	1316 Spencer Mountain Road	Gastonia	28054	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 836-9608	175	16	10.9	98.3%	49 (28.0%)	95 (54.3%)	15 (8.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (9.1%)	$18,894			$2,248			$16,646	1	1.1	790	22		370162002263
769	Stokes County Academy	Public	6-12	4611 NC 8 Hwy North	Lawsonville	27022	Stokes County	Stokes County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 593-8284	59	9	6.8	94.9%	45 (76.3%)	2 (3.4%)	5 (8.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (11.9%)	$15,262			$1,163			$14,099	1	7	757	12		370438002411
770	Choice Plus Academy	Public, Alternative	K-12	211 East Rose Street	Smithfield	27577	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(984) 230-0500	97	11	8.6	96.9%	14 (14.4%)	49 (50.5%)	31 (32.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.1%)								0.8	1.3	787	17		370237003545

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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.