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)
370058000244	351	William Lenoir Middle	Public	6-8	1366 Wildcat Trail	Lenoir	28645	Caldwell County	Caldwell County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 726-3910	509	37	13.6	61.1%	332 (65.2%)	49 (9.6%)	95 (18.7%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (6.1%)	$9,237			$791			$8,446	53.6	41.3	446	95
370378002475	352	Northeastern Randolph Middle School	Public	6-8	3493 Ramseur Julian Road	Liberty	27298	Randolph County	Randolph County School System	No	No	No	No	(336) 622-5808	481	27	17.8	60.7%	338 (70.3%)	11 (2.3%)	93 (19.3%)	3 (0.6%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (6.9%)	$8,362			$533			$7,828	53.6	43.2	426	74
370162003433	353	Gaston Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Magnet, Alternative	K-12	1 Learning Place	Gastonia	28052	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	Yes	Yes	No	(704) 836-9125	462	32	14.4	52.2%	246 (53.2%)	136 (29.4%)	47 (10.2%)	10 (2.2%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	19 (4.1%)	$5,154			$290			$4,864	53.5	60.9	285	68
370462001798	354	Parkwood Middle	Public	6-8	3219 Parkwood School Rd	Monroe	28112	Union County	Union County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 296-0655	828	41	20.4	42.5%	563 (68.0%)	83 (10.0%)	132 (15.9%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (5.7%)	$8,571			$578			$7,993	53.4	55	333	21
370001102574	355	Gray's Creek Middle	Public	6-8	5151 Celebration Drive	Hope Mills	28348	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 483-4124	1,126	61	18.5	50.3%	521 (46.3%)	282 (25.0%)	164 (14.6%)	13 (1.2%)	38 (3.4%)	6 (0.5%)	102 (9.1%)	$7,625			$904			$6,721	53.4	54.1	345	10
370495002655	356	East Wilkes Middle School	Public	6-8	2202 Macedonia Church Road	Ronda	28670	Wilkes County	Wilkes County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 651-4300	375	25	14.8	99.2%	322 (85.9%)	2 (0.5%)	31 (8.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (4.8%)	$9,876			$1,000			$8,876	53.3	59.7	294	62
370483001937	357	Green Valley Elementary	Public	PK, KG-8	189 Big Hill Road	Boone	28607	Watauga County	Watauga County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 264-3606	309	31	10	64.1%	262 (84.8%)	3 (1.0%)	10 (3.2%)	4 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (9.7%)	$11,237			$1,247			$9,990	53.3	45.2	412	55
370075000310	358	J S Waters School	Public	K-8	55 J S Waters School Road	Goldston	27252	Chatham County	Chatham County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 898-2259	193	14	13.7	58.0%	125 (64.8%)	22 (11.4%)	30 (15.5%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (7.8%)	$12,630			$1,275			$11,355	53.2	54.4	340	18
370237003583	359	JCPS Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	1455 Buffalo Rd	Smithfield	27577	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	Yes	No	(984) 285-3700	660	23	29.3	50.2%	306 (46.4%)	158 (23.9%)	136 (20.6%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (8.5%)								53	41.9	439	80
370063002572	360	Newport Middle	Public	6-8	500 E Chatham Street	Newport	28570	Carteret County	Carteret County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 223-3482	378	29	13.2	97.6%	266 (70.4%)	30 (7.9%)	42 (11.1%)	4 (1.1%)	4 (1.1%)	1 (0.3%)	31 (8.2%)	$11,529			$749			$10,780	53	53.5	354	6

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.