Summary:
ZIP code 42134 has one listed middle school, Franklin-Simpson Middle School, serving grades 6–8 with 662 students in the Simpson County district. With no other middle schools in the list, families have no local school-to-school comparison; the state is the available benchmark. The clearest finding is that in 2025–2026 the school scored above the state in 9 of its 10 reported grade-and-subject results.
Franklin-Simpson Middle School is both the local leader and trailing school by default, rather than a meaningful winner or lowest performer among local options. Against the state, its strongest result was grade 7 math: 50% proficient versus 39%, an 11-point advantage. Its largest shortfall was grade 8 math, at 38% versus 39%, or 1 point below. Reading was a consistent strength: the school averaged 55% across grades 6–8, compared with 48% statewide, and was ahead in all three grades. Math was less even, ranging from 38% to 50% across grades.
Results improved overall compared with 2024–2025, though not in every grade and subject. Across the same 10 results, the school’s average moved from 42%—1 point below the state average—to 48%, 6 points above it; the school-state gap shifted by 7 points. Grade 7 science rose from 27% to 37%, grade 8 writing from 40% to 50%, and grade 8 social studies from 36% to 45%, while grade 6 math fell from 47% to 44% and grade 8 reading stayed at 44%. SchoolDigger ranked the school 71st of 326 and gave it 4 stars in 2025–2026, up from 180th of 320 and 2 stars the prior year. Context figures include an 18.3 student-teacher ratio in 2024–2025 and 64% free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–2025; these describe the school, but the data do not show that they explain its results.
Thank you for your feedback!