Best Middle Schools in North Carolina

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Find the best North Carolina middle schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish North Carolina test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the EOG test scores by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction. The most recent update was on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 793)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
370268001111	181	East Lincoln Middle	Public	6-8	4137 Hwy 73	Iron Station	28080	Lincoln County	Lincoln County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 732-0761	748	45	16.6	37.6%	543 (72.6%)	47 (6.3%)	90 (12.0%)	9 (1.2%)	5 (0.7%)	2 (0.3%)	52 (7.0%)	$7,305			$426			$6,879	73.8	73.7	174	7
370331002311	182	Grover C Fields Middle	Public	6-8	2000 M L King Jr Boulevard	New Bern	28560	Craven County	Craven County Board of Education	No	No	No	No	(252) 514-6438	552	33	16.8	52.2%	312 (56.5%)	84 (15.2%)	83 (15.0%)	26 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	45 (8.2%)	$9,793			$1,127			$8,666	73.8	73.3	176	6
370040103400	183	Union Prep Academy at Indian Trail	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-10	2324 Younts Rd	Indian Trail	28079	Union County	Union Preparatory Academy at Indian Trai	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 893-3607	1,181	60	19.7	42.6%	558 (47.2%)	229 (19.4%)	237 (20.1%)	46 (3.9%)	6 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	104 (8.8%)								73.4	72.8	184	1
370297001273	184	South Academy of International Languages	Public, Magnet	K-8	8300 Nations Ford Rd	Charlotte	28217	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(980) 343-5815	1,227	83	14.7	35.5%	408 (33.3%)	241 (19.6%)	406 (33.1%)	76 (6.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	96 (7.8%)	$9,365			$441			$8,925	73.2	80.9	133	51
370042303461	185	Carolina Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	8529 NC Highway 55	Angier	27501	Harnett County	Carolina Charter Academy: CFA	Yes	No	No	Yes	(984) 300-3015	823	44	18.6		451 (54.8%)	63 (7.7%)	161 (19.6%)	64 (7.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	84 (10.2%)								73.1	72.8	183	2
370007002416	186	East Wake Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	821 Charter School Way	Zebulon	27597	Wake County	East Wake Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 404-0444	1,246	83	15		872 (70.0%)	155 (12.4%)	133 (10.7%)	15 (1.2%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	70 (5.6%)								73.1	70.5	202	16
370040403401	187	FernLeaf	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-10	58 Howard Gap Rd	Fletcher	28732	Henderson County	FernLeaf Community Charter School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(828) 684-3645	666	46	14.4		576 (86.5%)	4 (0.6%)	39 (5.9%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	42 (6.3%)								73.1	77.3	159	28
370237001173	188	Cleveland Middle	Public	6-8	2323 Cornwallis Road	Garner	27529	Wake County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 553-7500	923	50	18.3	99.7%	453 (49.1%)	204 (22.1%)	193 (20.9%)	18 (2.0%)	3 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	51 (5.5%)	$7,527			$410			$7,117	73	78.2	153	35
370114000470	189	Ledford Middle	Public	6-8	3954 N NC Hwy 109	Thomasville	27360	Davidson County	Davidson County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 476-4816	621	38	16.2	51.2%	360 (58.0%)	65 (10.5%)	136 (21.9%)	29 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (5.0%)	$7,403			$512			$6,891	72.7	71.4	195	6
370047803616	190	Central Carolina Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	6-11	1801 Douglas Drive	Sanford	27330	Lee County	Central Carolina Academy	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(984) 977-9455	450	29	15.3	34.9%	301 (66.9%)	38 (8.4%)	64 (14.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (10.2%)								72.6			(n/a)

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for North Carolina

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for NC student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Homeless Students Gifted and Talented Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on EOG Mathematics, EOG Reading, EOG Science test scores released by the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.
These rankings were last updated on September 4, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.