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Best Middle Schools in Zip Code 28612

New rankings! SchoolDigger recently updated its North Carolina rankings with newly released test scores for the 2025-26 school year.

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At a glance

School

630

Students

Top rankedEast Burke Middle249^th of 778 North Carolina middle schools

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Biggest riser

East Burke Middle up 134 spots statewide this year

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Summary:

Zip code 28612 in North Carolina is served by a single middle school, East Burke Middle, located in Connelly Springs and enrolling 630 students in grades 6 through 8. As the only middle school in this area, East Burke Middle’s results define the local picture, so parent interest naturally focuses on how this school compares with its district, Burke County Schools, and the state of North Carolina.

East Burke Middle is performing well overall, especially given that 99.21% of its students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. In the 2025–2026 school year, the school beat the state average in every EOG subject tested, and it outperformed Burke County Schools in four of seven subject/grade categories. Its strongest result was in 6th-grade math, where 74.1% of students were proficient, compared with 61.1% for the district and 59.2% for the state. Reading proficiency was also a clear strength, with the school outpacing the district in all three reading tests. The school still trails its district in 7th-grade math, 8th-grade math, and 8th-grade science, suggesting upper-grade math and science are areas to watch. Even so, East Burke Middle improved in six of seven EOG categories from the previous year, with notable gains of roughly 14 to 18 percentage points in 8th-grade reading, 8th-grade science, 8th-grade math, and 6th-grade math. Its statewide ranking jumped from the 50th percentile in 2024–2025 to the 68th percentile in 2025–2026, moving up 134 places to 249th out of 778 middle schools.

The main concern for East Burke Middle is chronic absenteeism, which stands at 22.6%—higher than the district rate of 18.3%, though lower than the state’s 24.2%. The school has a student-teacher ratio of 15.9 to 1, and per-student spending was reported at $8,638, though that figure is several years old. Overall, East Burke Middle is a high-poverty school producing above-average academic results, with reading as a particular strength and upper-grade math and science representing the clearest opportunities for continued improvement.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				EOG Mathematics (2026)			EOG Reading (2026)			EOG Science (2026)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients (2025)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	EOG Mathematics 6th Grade	EOG Mathematics 7th Grade	EOG Mathematics 8th Grade	EOG Reading 6th Grade	EOG Reading 7th Grade	EOG Reading 8th Grade	EOG Science 8th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
East Burke Middle	Public	6-8	3519 Miller Bridge Road	Connelly Springs	28612	Burke County	Burke County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 397-7446	630	40	15.9	99.2%	459 (72.9%)	14 (2.2%)	59 (9.4%)	58 (9.2%)	2 (0.3%)	6 (1.0%)	32 (5.1%)	64.9	249^th of 778 public middle schools	68.0%		50.7	383^rd of 773 public middle schools	50.5%	134	74.1	58.9	57.9	56.2	61.1	59.5	74.4	$8,638	$679	$7,959

Cities Near Zip Code 28612

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Lenoir	3.55 mi	14	392^nd
Drexel	4.51 mi	1	479^th
Granite Falls	4.54 mi	6	184^th
Valdese	4.62 mi	4	141^st
Morganton	4.88 mi	22	272^nd

See the top NC North Carolina cities

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.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.