Summary:
Zip code 35630 is home to just one middle school, Florence Middle School, which serves grades 7 and 8 within the Florence City district and enrolls 663 students.
For parents considering this area, Florence Middle School presents a mixed picture. The school’s biggest strength is science, where 8th-grade proficiency reached 52.88% in 2025-2026, nearly matching the state average of 54.12%. However, math is a significant concern, with only about 27-28% of students proficient in both 7th and 8th grade—barely above state averages and meaning roughly three-quarters of students are not on grade level. English results are also troubling, particularly in 8th grade, where the school’s 52.19% proficiency rate fell 6.34 percentage points behind the state’s 58.53% in 2025-2026, a gap that widened from the previous year. The school’s state ranking has dropped sharply, from 95th out of 442 schools in 2023-2024 to 180th out of 443 in 2025-2026, moving it from the top 25% to the 59th percentile.
One of the most notable challenges is chronic absenteeism, which stands at 18.5%—54% higher than the state average of 12.0% and above the district’s 17.2%. With 55.66% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch, the school serves a majority low-income population, and the student-teacher ratio of 17.2 suggests larger class sizes. The combination of declining rankings, weak math performance, a widening English gap, and high absenteeism indicates a school at a crossroads. While science instruction appears effective, targeted interventions in math, 8th-grade English, and attendance will be critical to reversing the downward trajectory and helping all students succeed.
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