Martin Middle

Martin Middle is a large public middle school in Raleigh, NC, serving 1,011 students in grades 6–8 as part of Wake County Schools. In its most recent state ranking, Martin placed 92nd out of 778 North Carolina middle schools—the 88th percentile—earning a 4-star rating. The school has consistently performed well, ranking between the 83rd and 89th percentile in every available year since 2015-2016. Among nearby middle schools, Martin is in a strong cohort: Moore Square Middle outranks it slightly at the 89th percentile, while Carnage Middle (85th percentile), East Cary Middle (84th percentile), and Oberlin Middle (82nd percentile) follow closely behind.

Academically, Martin beats the Wake County district and North Carolina state averages in nearly every subject and grade level. Seventh grade stands out: roughly 78% of students are proficient in both math and reading, compared to district averages around 66%. Eighth grade science proficiency is also strong at 79.3%. The main exception is 8th grade math, where Martin’s 65.8% proficiency is only slightly above the district’s 64.4%—a much thinner edge than in 6th and 7th grade math. Moore Square Middle, one of Martin’s closest peers, posts notably stronger 8th grade math results at 72.5%.

The school’s greatest challenge is an equity gap in how effectively it serves different student groups. While White and multiracial students rank at the 96th and 95th percentiles statewide, Hispanic, African American, English learner, and economically disadvantaged students rank in the bottom half of the state for their groups, with low-income students at just the 13th percentile. Still, Martin has genuine strengths: special education students rank at the 89th percentile statewide, and male and female students both rank at the 88th percentile—no gender gap. Chronic absenteeism is an area to watch, rising from 18.0% in the prior year to 22.5%, which is higher than nearby high performers like Carnage Middle (13.7%). Martin also carries the largest class sizes of its top-performing peers, with a 16.6 student-teacher ratio.