Best Middle Schools in Zip Code 27909

Zip code 27909 is served by two middle schools, Elizabeth City Middle and River Road Middle, both covering grades 6 through 8 and enrolling a combined 898 students in the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools district. These two schools are remarkably similar in profile: nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch (99.4% and 99.3%), chronic absenteeism runs at 31.3% and 31.5%, per-pupil spending is nearly identical at about $9,180, and student-teacher ratios are close at 16.1 and 15.0. Both carry a current 2-star rating and rank in the lower third of North Carolina middle schools, with River Road Middle (509th) sitting just one spot above Elizabeth City Middle (510th) out of 778 schools.

Despite their similar overall profiles, the two schools stand out in very different academic areas. River Road Middle is stronger in early middle school math, posting 6th grade math proficiency of 57.1% and 7th grade math of 57.8% — near or above district and state averages — along with 6th grade reading proficiency of 55.2%. Elizabeth City Middle, meanwhile, is the standout in 7th grade reading at 61.9% (compared to River Road's 43.8%) and, most notably, in 8th grade science, where it posted a 66.2% proficiency rate versus River Road's 50.7%, coming within 2.4 points of the state average. In 2024-2025, Elizabeth City Middle actually exceeded the state average in 8th grade science (62.6% vs. 60.1%).

The clearest shared weakness is 8th grade math: Elizabeth City Middle (33.3%) and River Road Middle (35.0%) both trail the state average of 53.0% by roughly 18–20 points, a challenge that appears systemic across the district. Chronic absenteeism at both schools, about 7 percentage points above the state rate of 24.2%, is another concerning factor. Year-to-year rankings have also moved in opposite directions — Elizabeth City improved sharply in 2024-2025 then slipped, while River Road declined and then rebounded in 2025-2026 — underscoring volatility that makes single-year rankings misleading. There is no clear overall winner here; each school has distinct strengths, and nearly identical resources mean the differences likely reflect school-level practices and classroom factors rather than funding.