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)
370037103335	681	Lakeside Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	17609 Old Statesville Rd	Cornelius	28031	Mecklenburg County	Lakeside Charter Academy	Yes	No	No	No	(704) 896-9500	235	17	13.8		106 (45.1%)	47 (20.0%)	62 (26.4%)	10 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	8 (3.4%)								17.7	23.2	632	49
370150000630	682	Paisley IB Magnet School	Public, Magnet	6-10	1394 Thurmond St	Winston Salem	27105	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(336) 703-4168	674	46	14.6	99.6%	90 (13.4%)	379 (56.2%)	163 (24.2%)	9 (1.3%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (4.7%)	$8,958			$886			$8,072	17.6	17.9	666	16
370405001631	683	West Rowan Middle	Public	6-8	5925 Statesville Blvd	Salisbury	28147	Rowan County	Rowan-Salisbury Schools	No	No	No	No	(704) 633-4775	648	37	17.5	59.9%	331 (51.1%)	125 (19.3%)	119 (18.4%)	5 (0.8%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	65 (10.0%)	$9,051			$678			$8,373	17.5	19.8	651	32
370192000955	684	Ferndale Middle	Public, Magnet	6-8	701 Ferndale Boulevard	High Point	27262	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(336) 819-2855	537	33	16.1	99.4%	57 (10.6%)	253 (47.1%)	158 (29.4%)	53 (9.9%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (2.8%)	$9,974			$1,173			$8,801	17.3	12.6	710	26
370162000712	685	Southwest Middle	Public	6-8	1 Roadrunner Drive	Gastonia	28052	Gaston County	Gaston County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(704) 866-6290	804	51	15.7	99.6%	204 (25.4%)	280 (34.8%)	268 (33.3%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (5.8%)	$8,802			$1,244			$7,559	17.3	26.7	589	96
370126000245	686	Brogden Middle	Public	6-8	1001 Leon Street	Durham	27704	Durham County	Durham Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 560-3906	742	51	14.5	99.6%	84 (11.3%)	305 (41.1%)	309 (41.6%)	14 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (4.0%)	$12,887			$1,406			$11,481	17.2	18	664	22
370297001189	687	J. M. Alexander Middle	Public, Magnet	6-8	12010 Hambright Rd	Huntersville	28078	Mecklenburg County	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(980) 343-3830	783	45	17.3	51.9%	50 (6.4%)	481 (61.4%)	191 (24.4%)	25 (3.2%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	32 (4.1%)	$8,261			$602			$7,659	17.1	18.4	662	25
370393001579	688	Pembroke Middle	Public	6-8	8910 Deep Branch Road	Pembroke	28372	Robeson County	Public Schools of Robeson County	No	No	No	Yes	(910) 522-5013	698	41	17.1	99.4%	25 (3.6%)	51 (7.3%)	45 (6.4%)	0 (0.0%)	545 (78.1%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (4.6%)	$9,694			$1,485			$8,209	17.1	23.7	623	65
370192000835	689	Northeast Guilford Middle	Public	6-8	6720 McLeansville Road	Mc Leansville	27301	Guilford County	Guilford County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(336) 375-2525	780	45	17.4	99.6%	120 (15.4%)	443 (56.8%)	145 (18.6%)	21 (2.7%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	48 (6.2%)	$9,065			$1,562			$7,503	17	15.5	686	3
370472001854	690	East Millbrook Middle	Public, Magnet	6-8	3801 Spring Forest Rd	Raleigh	27616	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(919) 850-8755	769	62	12.4	73.2%	96 (12.5%)	373 (48.5%)	245 (31.9%)	16 (2.1%)	7 (0.9%)	3 (0.4%)	29 (3.8%)	$11,135			$1,361			$9,773	16.9	16.3	675	15

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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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.