Middle Schools in Edgefield 01

The Edgefield 01 school district contains two middle schools serving grades 6-8 with a combined enrollment of 759 students in the Johnston and North Augusta areas of South Carolina.

There is a stark academic divide between the two schools in this district. Merriwether Middle is the clear academic leader, consistently outperforming its district counterpart and state averages across nearly every subject and grade level. The school has maintained a strong state ranking in the 69th-73rd percentile over the past three years, with particularly impressive English Language Arts results—8th grade proficiency reached 76.3% in 2024-2025, more than 20 points above the state average. In contrast, Johnston-Edgefield-Trenton Middle (JET Middle) has ranked in the 30th-36th percentile over the same period, with proficiency rates well below state averages in most subjects. The gap is most dramatic in 6th grade math, where Merriwether's proficiency rate (49.0%) is 2.5 times higher than JET Middle's (19.2%).

Interestingly, JET Middle actually has more favorable resource metrics—higher per-student spending ($15,258 vs. $14,196) and a lower student-teacher ratio (12.3:1 vs. 14.6:1)—yet performs significantly worse academically. One bright spot for JET Middle is its remarkable Algebra 1 performance, with 100% proficiency on the EOCEP exam compared to the state average of 73.95%. The district as a whole struggles in mathematics, with both schools falling below state averages in most math categories. Chronic absenteeism is slightly higher at Merriwether (24.2%) than at JET Middle (22.0%), yet Merriwether still outperforms academically. For parents, Merriwether Middle offers consistently strong academics, particularly in ELA, while JET Middle shows pockets of excellence in advanced math but faces significant challenges in general subject proficiency.