Summary:
The city of Hemingway, South Carolina, is served by two middle schools—Carvers Bay Middle STEAM Academy in the Georgetown 01 district and Hemingway MB Lee Middle in the Williamsburg 01 district—both serving grades 6-8 with a combined enrollment of roughly 390 students.
These two schools are heading in opposite directions. Carvers Bay Middle STEAM Academy has seen its state ranking plummet from the 23rd percentile to the 9th percentile over two years, while Hemingway MB Lee Middle has climbed from the 15th to the 24th percentile. Despite its "STEAM" designation, Carvers Bay actually posts lower 6th-grade science proficiency (30.5%) than Hemingway MB Lee (36.6%). The most alarming issue is chronic absenteeism: 41.1% of Hemingway MB Lee students are chronically absent—nearly double the state average of 22.3%—compared to 23.7% at Carvers Bay. This attendance crisis likely undermines the school's higher per-student spending ($20,289 vs. $18,559) and slightly better student-teacher ratio (10:1 vs. 10.9:1).
Both schools struggle significantly in mathematics, with proficiency rates roughly half the state averages—Carvers Bay ranges from 19.5% to 22.1% across grades, while Hemingway MB Lee's 7th-grade math sits at just 15.5%. Grade-level performance is inconsistent at both schools; for example, Carvers Bay's 8th-grade ELA proficiency (45.3%) is 17 points higher than its 7th grade (28.1%). With small cohorts, year-to-year swings are dramatic, such as Carvers Bay's 7th-grade ELA dropping 23.6 points in one year. While Hemingway MB Lee's 6th-grade ELA (51.2%) approaches the state average (56.3%), both schools trail state averages in nearly every subject, indicating systemic challenges that require comprehensive intervention beyond just additional funding.
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