Best Middle Schools in Zip Code 28103

Zip code 28103 in North Carolina contains just one public middle school, East Union Middle in Marshville, which serves grades 6–8 and enrolls 683 students in an overwhelmingly high-poverty community where nearly all students (99.56%) qualify for free or reduced lunch.

East Union Middle presents a distinctly split academic profile. In the most recent EOG results, math is a genuine bright spot: proficiency rates exceed the North Carolina state average in every grade level, with 8th-grade math especially strong at 62.8% proficient—nearly 10 points above the state. The school also posted impressive year-over-year gains, including a remarkable 22.9-point jump in 8th-grade math and an 11.7-point increase in 8th-grade science. Reading, however, is a critical weakness, with proficiency ranging from just 31.1% in 6th grade to 45.9% in 7th grade—far below the state average of about 55–56% and dramatically below the district average of roughly 69–70%. This reading deficit is the primary reason the school has earned only 2 stars in each of the last three years, ranking in the 39th percentile statewide. Science sits in the middle: 60.7% proficient, below the state (68.6%) and district (80.0%) averages but significantly improved from the prior year. Chronic absenteeism (22.5%) is above the district's 14.6% but actually below the state average of 24.2%.

Because this is the only middle school in the zip code, there is no local school-to-school comparison to make. The more meaningful context comes from Union County Public Schools, a high-performing 4-star district ranking in the 83rd percentile statewide. Against that backdrop, East Union Middle sits roughly 22 points below its district average on overall EOG proficiency, illuminating notable inequity within an otherwise strong district. Still, the math and science gains show real progress—especially given the school's poverty level—leaving reading intervention as the clearest path toward improving its rating and closing the gap with its higher-performing district peers.