Best Middle Schools in Zip Code 28792

Zip code 28792 contains exactly one public middle school: Apple Valley Middle, which serves grades 6 through 8 in Hendersonville, NC, as part of Henderson County Schools. The school enrolls 820 students with a 15:1 student-teacher ratio and a free/reduced lunch rate of 68.54%, making this a high-poverty school that serves the entire middle-grade population of the zip code.

Compared with its own district and state benchmarks, Apple Valley Middle shows an uneven academic profile. Its clear academic strength is 8th-grade math, with 64.7% proficiency in 2025–26—more than 11 points above the state average—and the school also outperformed the state in 8th-grade math the previous year. However, no grade level reached even 50% proficiency in reading; 7th-grade reading was the weakest area at just 39.0%, compared with 56.3% statewide. The school also trails its district in most subjects, particularly in 7th-grade math, where only 47.9% of students were proficient versus 61.9% for Henderson County Schools. While 8th-grade science improved sharply from 56.3% to 63.3% year over year, it still lags both district and state levels.

Apple Valley Middle carries a 2-star state ranking and sits in the 37th percentile of North Carolina middle schools, well behind its district’s 4-star, 70th-percentile rating. Chronic absenteeism is a major concern: 25.0% of students are chronically absent, compared with 14.5% districtwide, meaning roughly 200 students are affected. Reading proficiency across all grades and chronic absenteeism are the two most pressing challenges. Families in 28792 have no other public middle school choice; because Apple Valley Middle is the only option in the zip code, its relatively low ranking, poor reading scores, and high absenteeism are particularly important for parents to understand.