Summary:
Clarendon 06 is a small South Carolina school district with two middle schools—Manning Junior High (483 students) and Scott's Branch Middle (145 students)—both serving grades 6-8 in a rural area where the district currently ranks in the bottom third of the state.
If you're comparing the two schools, Manning Junior High is clearly the stronger option academically. It ranks 230 out of 335 schools statewide (2 stars), while Scott's Branch Middle ranks 297th (1 star) and has seen a sharp 74-position drop in the past year. Manning outperforms Scott's Branch in nearly every subject and grade level—for example, 6th-grade ELA proficiency is 50.6% at Manning versus 39.4% at Scott's Branch, and 8th-grade math is 38.3% versus 23.6%. Manning also has more resources: it spends $14,200 per student with a 16.6:1 student-teacher ratio, compared to $11,615 and 18.5:1 at Scott's Branch. That said, both schools struggle significantly in math—Manning's 7th-grade math proficiency is just 15.2%, and Scott's Branch is even lower at 20% for that grade, both far below the state average of 41.8%.
The most urgent concern for parents is chronic absenteeism: both schools have an identical rate of 35.3%, which is 13 percentage points above the state average and suggests a district-wide issue that likely hampers learning. Scott's Branch did show some ELA strength in 2024-2025, beating state averages in 7th and 8th grade, but those gains were not sustained. Neither school shows a consistent improvement trend, and the district's overall 35th-percentile ranking reflects systemic challenges. For families, Manning offers more stability and better academics, but both schools need targeted help in math and attendance to give students a solid foundation.
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