Summary:
Zip code 28128 in central North Carolina has just one middle school, South Stanly Middle, enrolling 402 students in grades 6-8. Since there are no other local middle schools to compare, the school is best understood alongside its district, Stanly County Schools, and the state as a whole.
South Stanly Middle serves a student body with nearly universal economic need: 99.25% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Chronic absenteeism, however, is 20.0% — better than the state’s 24.2% average. The school has earned a 2-star rating from North Carolina, rising from a rank of 453rd in 2023-24 to 411th in 2025-26, now at the 47th percentile among 778 middle schools. That puts it slightly behind the district, which ranks at the 59th percentile statewide.
Academically, the strongest story is the 7th grade cohort. In 2025-26, 7th graders exceeded district and state proficiency levels in both math (63.5% vs. 54.8% district and 56.2% state) and reading (61.2% vs. 59.3% and 56.3%). But performance is uneven: 6th grade math trails the state by 9.6 points, 8th grade reading trails by 7.2 points, and 8th grade science, despite a big improvement to 63.7%, remains below district and state. The school posted large gains from the previous year — 7th grade math jumped from 40.3% to 63.5% — suggesting the current 7th graders are an especially strong group that could help lift the school's overall standing if patterns hold.
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