Middle Schools in Emanuel County

Emanuel County is home to a single middle school, Swainsboro Middle School, which serves grades 6-8 and enrolls 596 students in a rural, high-poverty area where 100% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Swainsboro Middle School is showing clear signs of momentum. Its state ranking jumped from the 30th percentile to the 45th percentile in a single year, a leap of 95 positions. The biggest driver is 8th-grade math, where proficiency nearly doubled from 24.1% to 40.9%. Social studies also became a bright spot, with 8th-grade proficiency at 42.0%, now exceeding the state average of 40.2%. The school also beats state averages on chronic absenteeism (15.9% vs. 17.7%) and maintains a favorable student-teacher ratio of 12.6:1, with per-student spending of $13,259. However, challenges remain. 7th-grade math proficiency sits at just 22.2%, nearly 20 points below the state average, and 8th-grade science is stagnant at 22.1%, trailing both the district and state. English Language Arts scores from the most recent release (2024-2025) show the school trails the state by 11-14 percentage points across all grades, with proficiency ranging from 26.1% to 30.3%.

For parents, the takeaway is that Swainsboro Middle School is improving, particularly in math and social studies, and the 8th-grade cohort's dramatic gains suggest effective strategies are taking hold. The school outperforms its district in several areas, including math, science, and chronic absenteeism. Yet, the persistent gaps in 7th-grade math, 8th-grade science, and ELA indicate uneven progress across subjects and grade levels. Given the school's 100% poverty rate, these achievements are notable, but parents should be aware that while some areas are trending upward, others still require significant attention. The school has resources in place, but the path forward will depend on replicating the 8th-grade success across the entire school.