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)
370069000283	331	Harry M Arndt Middle	Public	7-8	3350 34th Street Drive NE	Hickory	28601	Catawba County	Catawba County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 256-9545	631	38	16.5	61.3%	305 (48.3%)	40 (6.3%)	205 (32.5%)	34 (5.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (7.3%)	$7,986			$496			$7,490	55.3	56.3	322	9
370111000454	332	Cape Hatteras Secondary School	Public	6-12	48576 Highway 12	Buxton	27920	Dare County	Dare County Schools	No	No	No	No	(252) 995-5730	365	36	10	46.3%	271 (74.2%)	0 (0.0%)	75 (20.5%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (4.9%)	$16,457			$937			$15,520	55.2	71.4	194	138
370331003588	333	Craven Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	4-12	1319 Commerce Dr	New Bern	28562	Craven County	Craven County Board of Education	No	No	Yes	No	(252) 497-2250	111	11	10.2	3.6%	66 (59.5%)	26 (23.4%)	8 (7.2%)	3 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (7.2%)								55.1	66.4	233	100
370038403355	334	Excelsior Classical Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4100 N Roxboro Street	Durham	27704	Durham County	Excelsior Classical Academy	Yes	No	No	No	(919) 213-8585	987	41	24.2		468 (47.4%)	197 (20.0%)	217 (22.0%)	16 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	88 (8.9%)								55.1	49.7	386	52
370036903340	335	IC Imagine	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	110 Champion Way	Asheville	28806	Buncombe County	Invest Collegiate - Imagine	Yes	No	No	Yes	(828) 633-6491	1,248	95	13.1		975 (78.1%)	49 (3.9%)	129 (10.3%)	12 (1.0%)	3 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	80 (6.4%)								55.1	61.3	276	59
370336001402	336	Newton-Conover Middle	Public	6-8	873 Northern Dr NW	Conover	28613	Catawba County	Newton Conover City Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 464-4221	603	36	16.6	64.7%	232 (38.5%)	61 (10.1%)	195 (32.3%)	56 (9.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	59 (9.8%)	$7,899			$565			$7,334	55	56.2	323	13
370150000608	337	Hanes Magnet School	Public, Magnet	6-8	2355 Pleasant St	Winston Salem	27107	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(336) 703-4171	906	52	17.3	59.4%	281 (31.0%)	191 (21.1%)	341 (37.6%)	59 (6.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (3.8%)	$8,434			$508			$7,926	55	63.1	260	77
370014002923	338	Classical Charter Schools of Whiteville	Public, Charter	K-8	35 Bacon's Way	Whiteville	28472	Columbus County	Classical Charter Schools of Whiteville	Yes	No	No	Yes	(910) 641-4042	879	26	33.6	93.5%	413 (47.0%)	237 (27.0%)	30 (3.4%)	4 (0.5%)	76 (8.6%)	1 (0.1%)	118 (13.4%)								54.9	54.8	334	4
370150002447	339	Clemmons Middle School	Public	6-8	3785 Fraternity Church Road	Winston Salem	27127	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	No	No	No	(336) 703-4217	1,168	60	19.4	55.9%	455 (39.0%)	299 (25.6%)	300 (25.7%)	44 (3.8%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	69 (5.9%)	$7,723			$553			$7,171	54.7	64.7	245	94
370040703397	340	Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington	Public, Charter	6-12	4100 Sunglow Drive	Wilmington	28405	New Hanover County	Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington	Yes	No	No	Yes	(910) 338-5258	385	34	11.3	99.2%	132 (34.3%)	129 (33.5%)	80 (20.8%)	5 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (10.1%)								54.7	33.3	527	187

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for North Carolina

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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

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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.