Best Middle Schools in Barnwell, SC

Barnwell, South Carolina is served by two middle schools—Barnwell Elementary (grades 4-6) and Guinyard-Butler Middle (grades 7-8)—which together educate about 760 students within the Barnwell school district, a district ranked in the bottom 13% of the state.

There is a clear performance gap between the two schools. Barnwell Elementary is the stronger academic performer, with ELA proficiency rates between 53.7% and 58.1% across grades 4-6, compared to 41.8%-46.5% at Guinyard-Butler Middle. The math gap is even more pronounced: Barnwell Elementary posts proficiency rates of 28.4%-37.8%, while Guinyard-Butler Middle falls to just 19.4%-24.2%. Perhaps most striking is the absenteeism divide—Barnwell Elementary has an excellent chronic absenteeism rate of just 8.7%, while Guinyard-Butler Middle's rate of 30.4% is nearly four times higher and well above the state average of 22.3%. Notably, Guinyard-Butler Middle actually spends more per student ($14,984 vs. $13,758) yet achieves worse outcomes, and its state ranking has declined steadily from the 30th percentile in 2022-2023 to the 16th percentile in 2025-2026.

For parents, the key takeaway is that the transition from 6th to 7th grade appears to be a critical breaking point. ELA proficiency drops from 55% at Barnwell Elementary to 41.8% at Guinyard-Butler Middle, and math proficiency falls from 31.5% to 24.2%. This suggests students may struggle with the school transition itself, and absenteeism problems seem to intensify in the upper grades. While Barnwell Elementary shows relative strength in ELA—even approaching state averages in 6th grade—both schools face significant challenges in mathematics, where proficiency rates run 15-25 points below state averages. The district's 1-star rating reflects these systemic difficulties, though Barnwell Elementary demonstrates that better outcomes are possible within the same district context.