Middle Schools in Lexington 01

The Lexington 01 school district in South Carolina is home to 8 middle schools serving grades 6-8, with a total enrollment of 6,255 students across a mix of suburban and rural communities. The district ranks in the 81st percentile statewide, and the schools here show a clear split between a group of high-performing, 5-star schools and a lower tier that is working to close significant gaps.

For parents, the standout options are Lakeside Middle, Beechwood Middle, Meadow Glen Middle, and Pleasant Hill Middle. These four schools rank between 20th and 35th in the state, all earning 5 stars. Lakeside is the top performer, climbing to 20th place with a perfect 100% pass rate on the Algebra 1 exam. Beechwood is the largest school (1,033 students) yet still achieves top results while spending the least per student ($12,948). Meadow Glen stands out for its exceptionally low chronic absenteeism rate of just 11.0%, the best in the district. On the other end, White Knoll Middle is the lowest-ranked school at 200th place, and Pelion Middle has shown improvement but still struggles with a 40.8% chronic absenteeism rate—nearly double the district average.

Academically, the district outperforms the state in every subject and grade level, but math proficiency tends to decline from 6th to 8th grade across most schools. A striking finding is that all schools score above 92% on the Algebra 1 EOCEP, even though 8th-grade SC READY math scores vary wildly from 26% to 69%, suggesting only advanced students take that exam. The connection between attendance and achievement is strong: the top schools all have absenteeism below 15%, while the bottom performers have rates above 29%. Finally, Gilbert Middle and Carolina Springs Middle sit in the middle tier, offering solid but not standout performance. Overall, this district offers excellent options for families, but the gap between the top and bottom schools is substantial.