Best Middle Schools in North Carolina for Special Education Students

Check out our new feature available only on SchoolDigger: rankings for different groups of students in North Carolina!

Every year, the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction shares test results for various student groups in each school. We use these results to find out which schools do best for each group and list them from the best to the worst.

Additionally, we also compare the performance of the subgroup to the performance of the school as a whole. This makes it easy to see if, for example, Special Education students are overperforming or underperforming their peers in each school.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (Special Education vs All Students - 2025)					ID
Rank (of 478)	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	Statewide Rank Percentile (Special Education)	Statewide Rank Percentile (All Students)	Rank Percentile Difference from All Students	SchoolDigger Rating (Special Education)	SchoolDigger Rating (All Students)	ID
1	Lake Norman Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	12435 Old Statesville Road	Huntersville	28078	Mecklenburg County	Lake Norman Charter	Yes	No	No	No	(704) 948-8600	2,222	125	17.7		1,218 (54.8%)	244 (11.0%)	144 (6.5%)	449 (20.2%)	5 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	162 (7.3%)								99.8%	96.9%	2.90%			370006402399
2	Lakewood Montessori Middle	Public, Magnet	6-8	2119 Chapel Hill Rd	Durham	27707	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 560-2894	309	20	15.2	99.0%	179 (57.9%)	51 (16.5%)	59 (19.1%)	5 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	14 (4.5%)	$14,182			$1,909			$12,273	99.6%	96.0%	3.59%			370126003195
3	Mills Park Middle	Public	6-8	441 Mills Park Drive	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 466-1500	1,632	87	18.7	7.6%	479 (29.4%)	87 (5.3%)	112 (6.9%)	892 (54.7%)	3 (0.2%)	3 (0.2%)	56 (3.4%)	$7,648			$376			$7,272	99.4%	99.4%	0.02%			370472003205
4	The Innovation Academy at South Campus	Public	6-8	521 Martin Luther King Dr	Smithfield	27577	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 934-6481	263	18	14.4	98.5%	134 (51.0%)	41 (15.6%)	68 (25.9%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (6.5%)	$8,168			$360			$7,808	99.2%	95.2%	3.95%			370237003441
5	Marvin Ridge Middle	Public	6-8	2831 Crane Road	Waxhaw	28173	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 290-1510	1,277	64	19.9	4.5%	723 (56.6%)	58 (4.5%)	75 (5.9%)	344 (26.9%)	4 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	71 (5.6%)	$7,118			$318			$6,800	99.0%	99.1%	0.14%			370462002904
6	Davis Drive Middle	Public	6-8	2101 Davis Drive	Cary	27519	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 387-3033	992	57	17.4	13.3%	372 (37.5%)	44 (4.4%)	113 (11.4%)	419 (42.2%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (0.7%)	36 (3.6%)	$7,994			$391			$7,602	98.7%	97.5%	1.20%			370472002031
7	Apex Friendship Middle	Public	6-8	7701 Humie Olive Rd	Apex	27502	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 694-8960	1,412	73	19.3	7.9%	848 (60.1%)	77 (5.5%)	114 (8.1%)	302 (21.4%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	68 (4.8%)	$8,250			$361			$7,890	98.5%	97.7%	0.86%			370472003470
8	Weddington Middle	Public	6-8	5903 Deal Road	Matthews	28104	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-6318	1,324	65	20.3	7.3%	770 (58.2%)	85 (6.4%)	101 (7.6%)	308 (23.3%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	58 (4.4%)	$6,716			$201			$6,515	98.3%	98.2%	0.14%			370462002413
9	Jay M. Robinson Middle	Public	6-8	5925 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy	Charlotte	28277	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	No	No	No	(980) 343-6944	1,333	71	18.6	20.1%	608 (45.6%)	109 (8.2%)	140 (10.5%)	416 (31.2%)	3 (0.2%)	3 (0.2%)	54 (4.1%)	$7,933			$459			$7,474	98.1%	96.8%	1.35%			370297002639
10	Pine Lake Preparatory	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	104 Yellow Wood Circle	Mooresville	28115	Iredell County	Pine Lake Preparatory	Yes	No	No	No	(704) 237-5304	1,888	119	15.8		1,525 (80.8%)	29 (1.5%)	128 (6.8%)	114 (6.0%)	5 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	85 (4.5%)								97.9%	96.4%	1.53%			370014502926

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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 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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.