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)
370042103437	431	Catamount School	Public	6-8	100 Smoky Mountain Dr	Sylva	28779	Jackson County	Catamount School	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 331-1775	59	6	10.1	57.6%	47 (79.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (5.1%)	1 (1.7%)	5 (8.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (5.1%)								45.7	55.1	331	100
370345002272	432	Hunters Creek Middle	Public	6-8	4040 Hunters Trail	Jacksonville	28546	Onslow County	Onslow County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 353-2147	888	51	17.4	56.6%	423 (47.6%)	178 (20.0%)	152 (17.1%)	11 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.7%)	118 (13.3%)	$8,588			$869			$7,719	45.6	35.3	505	73
370005402375	433	Community School of Digital & Visual Art	Public, Charter	K-8	1955 West Cornwallis Road	Durham	27705	Durham County	Community School of Digital and Visual A	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 797-2340	181	15	12.3	98.3%	3 (1.7%)	143 (79.0%)	23 (12.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (6.6%)								45.6	26.1	599	166
370201002296	434	Western Harnett Middle	Public	6-8	11135 NC Hwy 27 West	Lillington	27546	Harnett County	Harnett County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 499-4497	766	48	16	57.3%	357 (46.6%)	137 (17.9%)	202 (26.4%)	4 (0.5%)	5 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	61 (8.0%)	$8,179			$745			$7,434	45.4	44.8	415	19
370378001515	435	Wheatmore Middle School	Public	6-8	5105 Archdale Road	Trinity	27370	Randolph County	Randolph County School System	No	No	No	No	(336) 431-2589	515	29	17.6	54.0%	420 (81.6%)	10 (1.9%)	40 (7.8%)	13 (2.5%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	29 (5.6%)	$8,958			$705			$8,253	45.4	55.1	332	103
370001100425	436	Pine Forest Middle	Public	6-8	6901 Ramsey Street	Fayetteville	28311	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 488-2711	704	45	15.6	54.4%	215 (30.5%)	267 (37.9%)	132 (18.8%)	17 (2.4%)	4 (0.6%)	3 (0.4%)	66 (9.4%)	$8,355			$972			$7,383	45.2	63.7	257	179
370504003099	437	Starmount Middle	Public	6-9	2626 Longtown Rd	Boonville	27011	Yadkin County	Yadkin County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 551-1160	493	30	16.4	99.4%	303 (61.5%)	17 (3.4%)	145 (29.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (5.5%)	$9,584			$874			$8,710	44.9	46.5	406	31
370309001318	438	Elise Middle	Public	6-8	180 W Elm St	Robbins	27325	Moore County	Moore County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 948-2421	184	18	10	98.4%	42 (22.8%)	19 (10.3%)	114 (62.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (4.3%)	$12,902			$1,764			$11,138	44.9	26.5	594	156
370231002528	439	Lakeshore Middle	Public	6-8	244 Lakeshore School Drive	Mooresville	28117	Iredell County	Iredell-Statesville Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 799-0187	571	34	16.9	39.1%	370 (64.8%)	51 (8.9%)	83 (14.5%)	23 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (7.7%)	$6,951			$238			$6,712	44.8	54.7	337	102
370002502096	440	Quality Education Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	5012-D Lansing Drive	Winston Salem	27105	Forsyth County	Quality Education Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(336) 744-7138	667	57	11.6	99.6%	1 (0.1%)	555 (83.2%)	80 (12.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (4.6%)								44.8	54.1	344	96

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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.