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)
370237001031	341	Clayton Middle	Public	6-8	490 Guy Rd	Clayton	27520	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 553-5811	573	36	15.9	57.8%	200 (34.9%)	149 (26.0%)	183 (31.9%)	7 (1.2%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (5.6%)	$9,361			$587			$8,774	54.6	56.5	319	22
370045000134	342	Reynolds Middle	Public	6-8	2 Rocket Drive	Asheville	28803	Buncombe County	Buncombe County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 298-7484	479	38	12.7	58.9%	262 (54.7%)	85 (17.7%)	85 (17.7%)	7 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (8.4%)	$10,391			$728			$9,664	54.5	58.2	304	38
370040503392	343	Matthews Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	2332 Mount Harmony Church Rd.	Matthews	28104	Union County	Matthews Charter Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(980) 339-5449	759	37	20.3	53.9%	289 (38.1%)	193 (25.4%)	185 (24.4%)	23 (3.0%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	65 (8.6%)								54.5	57.2	313	30
370162000713	344	Stanley Middle	Public	6-8	317 Hovis Road	Stanley	28164	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 836-9600	670	39	17	56.6%	447 (66.7%)	77 (11.5%)	110 (16.4%)	7 (1.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (4.2%)	$8,317			$777			$7,540	54.4	67.9	222	122
370483003559	345	Watauga Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual	K-8	175 Pioneer Trail	Boone	28607	Watauga County	Watauga County Schools	No	No	Yes	No	(828) 264-7190	44	10	4.4	38.6%	36 (81.8%)	2 (4.5%)	2 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (9.1%)								54.4			(n/a)
370001101832	346	Mac Williams Middle	Public	6-8	4644 Clinton Road	Fayetteville	28312	Cumberland County	Cumberland County Schools	No	No	No	No	(910) 483-8222	1,151	60	19	57.9%	544 (47.3%)	324 (28.1%)	148 (12.9%)	9 (0.8%)	27 (2.3%)	7 (0.6%)	92 (8.0%)	$8,092			$1,061			$7,031	54.3	54	346
370042002152	347	South Brunswick Middle	Public	6-8	100 Cougar Drive BSL	Southport	28461	Brunswick County	Brunswick County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 756-6870	572	38	15.1	99.5%	453 (79.2%)	31 (5.4%)	39 (6.8%)	6 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (7.3%)	$9,300			$1,106			$8,194	54.2	55.8	329	18
370087002226	348	Hayesville Middle	Public	6-8	135 School Drive	Hayesville	28904	Clay County	Clay County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 389-9924	274	22	12.3	62.8%	237 (86.5%)	1 (0.4%)	24 (8.8%)	1 (0.4%)	5 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.2%)	$9,537			$427			$9,111	54.1	58.8	299	49
370120001393	349	Chinquapin Elementary	Public	PK, KG-8	3894 NC 50 South	Chinquapin	28521	Duplin County	Duplin County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 285-3476	532	35	15.4	99.2%	353 (66.4%)	66 (12.4%)	84 (15.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (5.5%)	$14,420			$1,253			$13,167	54	59.2	296	53
370047503568	350	Faith Academy Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-9	420 North Main Street	Faith	28041	Rowan County	Faith Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(704) 603-8437	601	42	14.4		543 (90.3%)	16 (2.7%)	20 (3.3%)	6 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (2.7%)								53.8	68	221	129

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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

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.