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)
370342001410	631	Gaston STEM Leadership Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	400 Broughton Street	Gaston	27832	Northampton County	Northampton County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 537-2520	286	25	11.4	99.0%	21 (7.3%)	247 (86.4%)	11 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.4%)	$18,837			$3,552			$15,285	23.4	26.6	591	40
370237001027	632	Smithfield Middle	Public	6-8	1455 Buffalo Rd	Smithfield	27577	Johnston County	Johnston County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 934-4696	501	44	11.4	99.4%	67 (13.4%)	165 (32.9%)	251 (50.1%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (3.0%)	$10,489			$1,415			$9,074	23.1	28.3	573	59
370231000996	633	Troutman Middle	Public	6-8	305 Rumple St	Troutman	28166	Iredell County	Iredell-Statesville Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 528-5137	399	24	16.6	53.4%	238 (59.6%)	77 (19.3%)	61 (15.3%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (4.8%)	$10,019			$865			$9,154	23.1	34.3	521	112
370399001542	634	Reidsville Middle	Public	6-8	1903 S Park Dr	Reidsville	27320	Rockingham County	Rockingham County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 342-4726	614	36	17	99.5%	174 (28.3%)	248 (40.4%)	133 (21.7%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (9.0%)	$8,942			$1,430			$7,511	23	18.7	661	27
370234002067	635	Smokey Mountain Elementary	Public	PK, KG-8	884 US Hwy 441N	Whittier	28789	Jackson County	Jackson County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(828) 497-5535	353	25	14.1	77.9%	158 (44.8%)	2 (0.6%)	50 (14.2%)	5 (1.4%)	98 (27.8%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (11.3%)	$11,755			$1,735			$10,021	22.8	23.7	624	11
370096000145	636	East Columbus Junior-Senior High	Public	7-12	32 Gator Lane	Lake Waccamaw	28450	Columbus County	Columbus County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 646-4094	594	38	15.5	99.5%	172 (29.0%)	182 (30.6%)	98 (16.5%)	0 (0.0%)	86 (14.5%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (9.4%)	$10,383			$1,233			$9,149	22.7	23.5	626	10
370126003250	637	Lucas Middle	Public	6-8	923 Snow Hill Road	Durham	27704	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 560-3843	371	36	10.2	69.8%	49 (13.2%)	177 (47.7%)	124 (33.4%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (5.1%)	$11,258			$1,302			$9,956	22.6	23.4	630	7
370132000560	638	West Edgecombe Middle	Public	6-8	6301 Nobles Mill Pond Road	Rocky Mount	27801	Edgecombe County	Edgecombe County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(252) 446-2030	314	20	15.6	99.0%	75 (23.9%)	207 (65.9%)	19 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (4.1%)	$10,069			$1,755			$8,314	22.1	23.9	621	17
370043503450	639	Next Generation Academy	Public, Charter	K-7	3740 South Holden Road	Greensboro	27406	Guilford County	Next Generation Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(336) 271-9030	434	33	13.2	95.6%	5 (1.2%)	376 (86.6%)	30 (6.9%)	3 (0.7%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (4.1%)								21.8			(n/a)
370003102323	640	Children's Village Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	701 North Adkin Street	Kinston	28501	Lenoir County	Children's Village Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(252) 939-1958	155	8	20.4	98.1%	4 (2.6%)	137 (88.4%)	5 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (5.8%)								21.7	37.5	486	154

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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.