Summary:
The three middle schools in Spartanburg 02—Boiling Springs Middle, Rainbow Lake Middle, and Chesnee Middle—serve grades 6-8 and collectively enroll about 2,664 students in a district ranked 7th out of 75 in South Carolina (91st percentile).
If you’re looking for standout academics, Chesnee Middle is the overachiever: despite being the smallest school, it posted a 61% proficiency rate in 7th-grade math—19 points above the state average—and, along with Boiling Springs Middle, achieved a perfect 100% score on the Algebra 1 EOCEP exam. Boiling Springs Middle is the consistent performer, rarely dipping below district averages and doing so with the lowest per-student spending ($9,706) and highest student-teacher ratio (16.3:1), suggesting efficient resource use. Rainbow Lake Middle is the improvement story, with 7th-grade math jumping 22 percentage points in one year (29.7% to 51.7%), though it still trails its sister schools in most metrics despite having the best student-teacher ratio (14.5:1).
All three schools rank in the 63rd-68th percentile statewide (3 stars), but rankings have slipped since 2023-2024. Watch for two red flags: chronic absenteeism is highest at Chesnee Middle (27.4%, well above the state’s 22.3%), and 6th-grade ELA scores dropped 9-14 points across all schools in 2025-2026. On the bright side, all three schools achieve near-universal proficiency on Algebra 1 (99.99-100%), far exceeding the state’s 73.95%—a clear district strength. The paradox of high absenteeism alongside strong math scores at Chesnee suggests that engaged students thrive, but reducing absences could unlock even greater potential.
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