Best Middle Schools in Gaston, SC

The city of Gaston, South Carolina, is served by two middle schools within the Lexington 04 school district, together educating roughly 1,010 students in grades 5 through 8. Both schools share the district's 1-star rating and 9th percentile statewide ranking, indicating systemic challenges that affect the entire community rather than isolated issues at any single campus.

Frances F. Mack Intermediate serves grades 5-6 with 515 students and spends $15,010 per student, while Sandhills Middle serves grades 7-8 with 495 students and spends $2,276 less per student. Despite the higher spending, Frances F. Mack does not outperform Sandhills proportionally—in fact, Sandhills achieves comparable or better ELA results (42.1% proficiency in 7th grade vs. 37.1% in 6th grade) while spending less. The most alarming trend is mathematics: only 14.2% of 7th graders and 16.4% of 8th graders at Sandhills are proficient, roughly one-third of the state average, representing a 27-28 percentage point gap. Math proficiency also drops sharply between 5th grade (26.1%) and 6th grade (20.9%) at Frances F. Mack, suggesting the transition to middle school is particularly disruptive for math achievement.

There are encouraging signs, however. Both schools posted strong year-over-year ELA gains—Frances F. Mack's 5th grade improved by 10.5 points to 43.7%, and Sandhills improved by 7.5-8.2 points in both grades—suggesting literacy interventions are working. Chronic absenteeism is a major concern, affecting 33.9% of students at both schools versus 22.3% statewide, likely compounding academic struggles. Science performance at Frances F. Mack also declined sharply from 32.8% to 26.2%, widening the gap with the state. With both schools mirroring district averages exactly, these challenges are clearly district-wide, and the priority must be replicating the ELA success in math instruction while addressing absenteeism and resource allocation.