Summary:
York, South Carolina is served by two middle schools within the York 01 district, which together educate roughly 1,413 students in grades 5 through 8. York Middle handles grades 7-8 with 789 students, while York Intermediate covers grades 5-6, and the district itself holds a 3-star rating, ranking 35th out of 75 districts statewide.
For parents comparing the two, the most striking difference is in attendance and advanced math. York Intermediate has a chronic absenteeism rate of 22.6%, which is much healthier than York Middle's 35.2%—a 12.6-point gap that suggests student engagement drops significantly when kids move up to 7th grade. Academically, both schools post similar proficiency rates in English Language Arts (roughly 47-51%) and standard math (37-43%), but York Middle shines in its Algebra 1 End-of-Course exam, where 94% of students scored proficient—far exceeding the state average of 73.95% and the district's 57.28%. This suggests a strong advanced math track, though it contrasts sharply with the school's general math scores. Meanwhile, York Intermediate shows a notable weakness in 6th-grade science at 35.2% proficiency, well below the state's 51.9%.
Resource allocation raises questions: York Middle spends $1,312 more per student ($14,687 vs. $13,375) and has a better student-teacher ratio (12.6:1 vs. 14.3:1), yet it underperforms York Intermediate in attendance and shows no clear academic advantage. York Middle's state ranking has also been volatile, slipping from the 47th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 38th in 2024-2025 before recovering slightly to the 41st percentile. Since these two schools essentially define the district's middle school performance, parents may want to look beyond York 01 for comparison, but the Algebra 1 success at York Middle is a clear bright spot worth investigating.
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