Best Middle Schools in Zip Code 28787

The two middle-level schools in zip code 28787 (Weaverville, NC) are operated by Buncombe County Schools and together serve grades 5–8: North Windy Ridge Intermediate enrolls 487 students in grades 5–6, while North Buncombe Middle enrolls 516 students in grades 7–8. Both schools stand out for performing well above expectations given that nearly all of their students (about 99%) qualify for free/reduced lunch. The district itself is ranked 109th of 246 districts in North Carolina, placing in the 56th percentile with a 3-star rating, yet these two schools substantially exceed their district's typical results.

North Buncombe Middle is the higher-profile school of the two, holding a 4-star state ranking for three consecutive years and landing in the top quarter of North Carolina middle schools (76th–83rd percentile). Its strongest 2025–2026 results include 80.5% proficiency in 8th-grade science and 71.1% in 7th-grade math. North Windy Ridge Intermediate has no individual state rank, but its academics are nearly a match: its 69.0% average EOG proficiency trails North Buncombe Middle's 70.0% by only one point. A true standout for North Windy Ridge Intermediate is chronic absenteeism, at just 16.3% — 2.4 points better than the district and 7.9 points better than the state, a notable achievement for a high-poverty school.

Across nearly every reported subject and grade, both schools beat district and state averages by 8 to 12 percentage points; the only exception in the entire dataset was North Buncombe Middle's 8th-grade reading score in 2024–2025, which dipped a half-point below the state. Both schools also improved sharply from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026 — North Buncombe Middle rose from 64.9% to 70.0% proficiency, and North Windy Ridge Intermediate rose from 64.7% to 69.0%. Because the two schools form a continuous grade 5–8 pipeline, their consistently strong results suggest academic success is sustained as students move from the younger campus to the older one. North Buncombe Middle's percentile rank has fluctuated somewhat by year, but it has remained a reliable 4-star performer in an economically disadvantaged community.