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)
370150002293	151	The Downtown School	Public, Magnet	PK, KG-8	601 N Cherry Street	Winston Salem	27101	Forsyth County	Winston Salem / Forsyth County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(336) 703-4125	409	35	11.6	26.2%	193 (47.2%)	146 (35.7%)	35 (8.6%)	5 (1.2%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.7%)	26 (6.4%)	$11,387			$620			$10,767	77.2	90.3	64	87
370294003353	152	Foothills Community School	Public, Magnet	6-8	176 Lukin Street	Marion	28752	McDowell County	McDowell County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(828) 652-1040	188	12	15.1	50.5%	158 (84.0%)	4 (2.1%)	22 (11.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.1%)	$6,490			$276			$6,214	77.1	85.8	94	58
370035803325	153	Cardinal Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	1020 St. Charles Place	Cary	27513	Wake County	Cardinal Charter	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 653-5000	700	43	16.4	37.0%	217 (31.0%)	198 (28.3%)	117 (16.7%)	108 (15.4%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	55 (7.9%)								76.9	78.4	151	2
370472003626	154	Herbert Akins Road Middle	Public	6-8	2275 Herbert Akins Road	Fuquay Varina	27526	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(919) 694-8300	827	53	15.6	31.1%	499 (60.3%)	94 (11.4%)	178 (21.5%)	22 (2.7%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (3.9%)								76.8			(n/a)
370472001852	155	Reedy Creek Middle	Public, Magnet	6-8	930 Reedy Creek Road	Cary	27513	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 460-3504	768	55	14	39.8%	316 (41.1%)	170 (22.1%)	157 (20.4%)	95 (12.4%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	28 (3.6%)	$9,572			$485			$9,087	76.7	75.3	170	15
370009000035	156	West Alexander Middle	Public	6-8	85 Bulldog Lane	Taylorsville	28681	Alexander County	Alexander County Schools	No	No	No	No	(828) 495-4611	467	29	15.9	46.9%	394 (84.4%)	14 (3.0%)	30 (6.4%)	10 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	18 (3.9%)	$8,079			$717			$7,362	76.7	75.5	167	11
370034103301	157	Willow Oak Montessori	Public, Charter	K-8	1476 Andrews Store Road	Pittsboro	27312	Chatham County	Willow Oak Montessori	Yes	No	No	No	(919) 240-7787	283	25	11.1		218 (77.0%)	3 (1.1%)	22 (7.8%)	10 (3.5%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (9.9%)								76.7	81.7	124	33
370472001906	158	West Millbrook Middle	Public, Magnet	6-8	8115 Strickland Rd	Raleigh	27615	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(919) 870-4050	1,046	62	16.8	40.5%	538 (51.4%)	185 (17.7%)	248 (23.7%)	28 (2.7%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	43 (4.1%)	$8,987			$359			$8,628	76.5	64.7	246	88
370031803187	159	Lake Lure Classical Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1058 Island Creek Rd.	Lake Lure	28746	Rutherford County	Lake Lure Classical Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(828) 625-9292	442	28	15.8		372 (84.2%)	8 (1.8%)	22 (5.0%)	6 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	33 (7.5%)								76.2	61.1	277	118
370075000309	160	George M. Horton Middle	Public	5-8	79 Horton Road	Pittsboro	27312	Chatham County	Chatham County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(919) 542-2303	375	22	17.2	39.5%	211 (56.3%)	78 (20.8%)	53 (14.1%)	3 (0.8%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (7.7%)	$9,575			$632			$8,943	76.1	66.6	230	70

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on 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.