Summary:
Richland County CUSD 1 has one middle school, Richland County Middle School, serving grades 6–8 with 439 students. In 2025–2026, the school’s proficiency was above the state in both English Language Arts (ELA) and math, with its clearest strength in ELA: 74% proficient, compared with 56% statewide. Its most important finding is that ELA performance stood 18 percentage points above the state.
Because it is the only school in the list, Richland County Middle School is the area’s only option, not a meaningful “top” or “bottom” in a peer ranking. It also exceeded the state in math, with 47% proficient versus 40%, a 7-point advantage. Compared with the district, the school was 7 points higher in ELA (74% versus 68%), but 1 point lower in math (47% versus 48%). Grade-level results show that the math advantage over the state varied: it was 3 points in grade 7 but 18 points in grade 8. The school’s 17% chronic absenteeism rate was 7 points below the state’s 24% and 1 point below the district’s 17%.
Both all-grades test results improved from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, and the school’s state lead grew: ELA rose from 63% to 74%, while the state increased by 3 points; math rose from 39% to 47%, while the state increased by 1 point. Grade 8 science was a notable exception: the school rose by 1 point to 53%, while the state rose by 7 points, leaving the school just 1 point above the state. SchoolDigger ranked the school 342nd of 1,126 in 2025–2026 (70th percentile, 3 stars), compared with 393rd of 1,368 (71st percentile, 4 stars) the prior year. Context figures include a 13.7:1 student–teacher ratio and 55% eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024–2025; these figures describe the school but do not explain its results.
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