Best Middle Schools in North Carolina

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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)
370231000981	171	Woodland Heights Middle	Public	6-8	272 Forest Lake Blvd	Mooresville	28117	Iredell County	Iredell-Statesville Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 664-4430	528	36	14.7	25.6%	384 (72.7%)	46 (8.7%)	67 (12.7%)	7 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (4.5%)	$7,915			$475			$7,440	74.7	86.1	91	80
370053002260	172	J N Fries Magnet School	Public, Magnet	6-8	133 Stonecrest Circle SW	Concord	28027	Cabarrus County	Cabarrus County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(704) 260-6510	727	42	17.1	47.9%	305 (42.0%)	142 (19.5%)	127 (17.5%)	102 (14.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	50 (6.9%)	$8,307			$482			$7,825	74.5	77	161	11
370333002212	173	Myrtle Grove Middle	Public	6-8	901 Piner Rd	Wilmington	28409	New Hanover County	New Hanover County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 350-2100	597	42	14.3	99.5%	351 (58.8%)	100 (16.8%)	104 (17.4%)	11 (1.8%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	28 (4.7%)	$10,046			$1,051			$8,995	74.5	66.5	232	59
370004302358	174	The Exploris School	Public, Charter	K-8	401 Hillsborough St.	Raleigh	27603	Wake County	The Exploris School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 715-3690	450	40	11.1		298 (66.2%)	61 (13.6%)	32 (7.1%)	6 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	51 (11.3%)								74.4	85.8	93	81
370033103287	175	Langtree Charter Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	154 Foundation Ct	Mooresville	28117	Iredell County	Langtree Charter Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 235-0865	1,640	83	19.6	29.9%	1,143 (69.7%)	165 (10.1%)	185 (11.3%)	31 (1.9%)	2 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	114 (7.0%)								74.4	84.9	102	73
370333001375	176	The International School at Gregory	Public, Magnet	K-8	1106 Ann St	Wilmington	28401	New Hanover County	New Hanover County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(910) 251-6185	508	39	13.1	99.4%	188 (37.0%)	117 (23.0%)	180 (35.4%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (3.7%)	$18,192			$1,517			$16,675	74.3	53	359	183
370063000255	177	Morehead City Middle	Public	6-8	400 Barbour Road	Morehead City	28557	Carteret County	Carteret County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 726-1126	524	34	15.3	41.0%	380 (72.5%)	29 (5.5%)	76 (14.5%)	7 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	29 (5.5%)	$9,647			$477			$9,170	74.2	78.1	154	23
370502001996	178	Elm City Middle	Public	6-8	215 E Church St	Elm City	27822	Wilson County	Wilson County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 236-4148	425	25	16.9	99.3%	196 (46.1%)	137 (32.2%)	62 (14.6%)	6 (1.4%)	2 (0.5%)	2 (0.5%)	20 (4.7%)	$7,994			$522			$7,472	74.2	73.1	179	1
370309003571	179	Connect Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	272 Archie Rd	West End	27376	Moore County	Moore County Schools	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(910) 673-2004	302	17	18.3	40.4%	198 (65.6%)	54 (17.9%)	21 (7.0%)	6 (2.0%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (7.0%)								74.1			(n/a)
370372002790	180	Polk County Middle School	Public	6-8	321 Wolverine Trail	Mill Spring	28756	Polk County	Polk County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 894-2215	471	40	11.7	99.4%	349 (74.1%)	31 (6.6%)	59 (12.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	30 (6.4%)	$11,233			$636			$10,597	73.9	77.9	156	24

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.