Middle Schools in Lawrence

The Lawrence area is home to 4 middle schools serving grades 6-8, with Lawrence West Middle School, Lawrence Southwest Middle School, Billy Mills Middle School, and Lawrence Liberty Memorial Central Mid School providing educational opportunities for the community. Based on the available data, Lawrence Southwest Middle School stands out as the highest-performing school in the group, earning strong test scores and a 4-out-of-5-star rating from SchoolDigger.

While all 4 schools have a low 1.3% dropout rate, the chronic absenteeism rate across the district is higher than the state average at 19.5%. Lawrence Southwest Middle School boasts the highest proficiency rates in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science, significantly outperforming the Lawrence district and state averages. In contrast, Billy Mills Middle School and Lawrence Liberty Memorial Central Mid School have the lowest proficiency rates, scoring well below the district and state benchmarks.

The data also reveals that the lower-performing schools tend to have higher percentages of economically disadvantaged students, as indicated by their free/reduced lunch rates. Lawrence Southwest Middle School has the lowest free/reduced lunch rate at 24.46%, while Billy Mills Middle School and Lawrence Liberty Memorial Central Mid School have the highest rates at 54.96% and 58.63%, respectively. This suggests that addressing socioeconomic disparities may be a key factor in improving academic outcomes across the district.