Best Middle Schools in South Carolina

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New rankings! SchoolDigger recently updated its South Carolina rankings with newly released SC READY test scores for the 2025-26 school year.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)							Ranking (2026 vs 2025)					ID
Rank (of 335)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients (2024)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Rank (2025)	Rank Change from 2025	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	ID
301	Heyward Gibbes Middle	Public	6-8	500 Summerlea Drive	Columbia	29203	Richland County	Richland 01	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 343-2942	252	26	9.8	100.0%	4 (1.6%)	227 (90.1%)	13 (5.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.2%)	$28,273	$2,597	$1,973	$4,569	$19,307	$4,397	$23,704	15.1	11.9	295	6		450336001301
302	Jerry Zucker Middle School of Science	Public, Magnet	6-8	6401 Dorchester Road	North Charleston	29418	Charleston County	Charleston 01	No	Yes	No	Yes	(843) 767-8383	513	58	8.8	100.0%	31 (6.0%)	215 (41.9%)	247 (48.1%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (3.3%)	$21,951	$4,384	$1,544	$5,928	$12,628	$3,395	$16,023	15.1	15.2	278	24		450144001533
303	Rosemary Middle	Public	6-8	12804 County Line Road	Andrews	29510	Georgetown County	Georgetown 01	No	No	No	Yes	(843) 264-9780	356	28	12.7	100.0%	116 (32.6%)	214 (60.1%)	18 (5.1%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.0%)	$16,529	$2,133	$1,418	$3,551	$10,901	$2,076	$12,977	14.6	10.3	304	1		450228000478
304	Carvers Bay Middle STEAM Academy	Public	6-8	13000 Choppee Road	Hemingway	29554	Williamsburg County	Georgetown 01	No	No	No	Yes	(843) 545-0918	259	24	10.9	100.0%	81 (31.3%)	166 (64.1%)	7 (2.7%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	$18,559	$2,853	$1,784	$4,637	$11,383	$2,539	$13,922	14.5	16.5	270	34		450228000555
305	R. E. Davis College Preparatory Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	345 Eastern School Road	Sumter	29153	Sumter County	Sumter 01	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 495-3247	391	31	12.8	100.0%	40 (10.2%)	325 (83.1%)	22 (5.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.0%)	$18,431	$2,343	$2,294	$4,637	$12,231	$1,563	$13,794	14.4	14	285	20		450390201068
306	Hardeeville Junior /Senior High	Public	6-12	150 Hurricane Alley	Hardeeville	29927	Jasper County	Jasper 01	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(843) 310-1898	696	43	16.3	100.0%	23 (3.3%)	216 (31.0%)	447 (64.2%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.7%)								14.2	13.8	286	20		450252001770
307	Lake Marion Middle	Public	6-8	3656 Tee Vee Road	Santee	29412	Charleston County	Orangeburg	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(803) 496-5197	501	35	14.1		34 (6.8%)	430 (85.8%)	18 (3.6%)	6 (1.2%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	10 (2.0%)								13.7			(n/a)		450391001797
308	Creek Bridge STEM Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	6641 South Highway 41	Marion	29571	Marion County	Marion 10	No	No	No	Yes	(843) 362-3500	324	20	16.2	100.0%	38 (11.7%)	247 (76.2%)	25 (7.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.7%)	$18,749	$2,247	$3,560	$5,807	$10,385	$2,558	$12,942	12.7	18.9	263	45		450390801725
309	W. A. Perry Middle	Public	6-8	2600 Barhamville Road	Columbia	29204	Richland County	Richland 01	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 256-6347	320	32	10	100.0%	2 (0.6%)	289 (90.3%)	11 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (5.6%)	$30,818	$3,082	$2,054	$5,136	$19,110	$6,573	$25,683	12.7	13.4	288	21		450336000946
310	Chester Middle	Public	6-8	1014 McCandless Road	Chester	29706	Chester County	Chester 01	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 377-8192	479	38	12.6	100.0%	113 (23.6%)	268 (55.9%)	67 (14.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (6.5%)	$15,969	$1,334	$938	$2,271	$9,757	$3,940	$13,697	12.5	11.8	296	14		450153000299
311	Sandhills Middle	Public	7-8	582 Meadowfield Road	Gaston	29053	Lexington County	Lexington 04	No	No	No	No	(803) 490-7005	495	37	13.3	100.0%	204 (41.2%)	111 (22.4%)	146 (29.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	30 (6.1%)	$12,734	$969	$1,088	$2,057	$9,353	$1,324	$10,677	11.9	11	300	11		450279000751
312	Colleton County Middle	Public	6-8	1379 Tuskegee Airmen Drive	Walterboro	29488	Colleton County	Colleton 01	No	No	No	No	(843) 782-0040	931	70	13.3	100.0%	293 (31.5%)	484 (52.0%)	84 (9.0%)	3 (0.3%)	7 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	60 (6.4%)	$14,772	$1,975	$1,629	$3,604	$8,731	$2,436	$11,167	11.7	14.4	281	31		450183001586
313	Whale Branch Middle	Public	6-8	2009 Trask Parkway	Seabrook	29940	Beaufort County	Beaufort 01	No	No	No	Yes	(843) 466-3000	243	32	7.5	100.0%	13 (5.3%)	164 (67.5%)	50 (20.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (6.6%)	$33,250	$2,771	$708	$3,479	$23,852	$5,919	$29,771	11.2	12.6	290	23		450111000422
314	Polaris Technical Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1508 Grays Hwy	Ridgeland	29936	Jasper County	School Public Charter School District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(843) 645-0605	514	44	11.6	99.4%	92 (17.9%)	269 (52.3%)	144 (28.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.0%)	$11,890	$1,338	$164	$1,502	$6,937	$3,451	$10,388	11	12.9	289	25		450390101781
315	Ridgeland Secondary Academy of Excellence	Public	6-12	250 Jaguar Trail	Ridgeland	29936	Jasper County	Jasper 01	No	No	No	No	(843) 489-8844	739	57	12.9	100.0%	40 (5.4%)	345 (46.7%)	340 (46.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (1.9%)								10	8.4	310	5		450252001487
316	Tanglewood Middle	Public	6-8	44 Merriwoods Drive	Greenville	29611	Greenville County	Greenville 01	No	No	No	Yes	(864) 355-4500	652	50	13	100.0%	76 (11.7%)	173 (26.5%)	372 (57.1%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	24 (3.7%)	$15,595	$2,538	$793	$3,331	$11,032	$1,233	$12,264	9.9	10.6	301	15		450231001254
317	Denmark-Olar Middle	Public	6-8	1437 Church St	Denmark	29042	Bamberg County	Bamberg 03	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(803) 793-3383	144	9	16	100.0%	2 (1.4%)	132 (91.7%)	4 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (4.2%)	$18,034	$1,917	$1,173	$3,090	$11,475	$3,469	$14,944	9.7	5.7	318	1		450391600123
318	Sanders Middle	Public	6-8	609 Green Street	Laurens	29360	Laurens County	Laurens 55	No	No	No	Yes	(864) 984-0354	250	30	8.3	100.0%	85 (34.0%)	114 (45.6%)	40 (16.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	10 (4.0%)	$18,411	$1,559	$510	$2,069	$13,511	$2,831	$16,342	9.5	16.4	271	47		450261000699
319	St. Andrews Middle	Public	6-8	1231 Bluefield Road	Columbia	29210	Richland County	Richland 01	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 731-8910	627	58	10.8	100.0%	17 (2.7%)	523 (83.4%)	46 (7.3%)	11 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	29 (4.6%)	$18,051	$2,156	$1,651	$3,808	$11,942	$2,301	$14,244	9.2	9.7	305	14		450336001308
320	Northwoods Middle	Public	6-8	7763 Northside Drive	North Charleston	29420	Dorchester County	Charleston 01	No	No	No	Yes	(843) 764-2212	708	49	14.4	100.0%	46 (6.5%)	280 (39.5%)	334 (47.2%)	5 (0.7%)	2 (0.3%)	6 (0.8%)	35 (4.9%)	$21,784	$3,944	$3,380	$7,324	$10,426	$4,034	$14,461	8.8	7.6	311	9		450144001211
321	William J. Clark Middle	Public	6-8	919 Bennett Avenue	Orangeburg	29115	Orangeburg County	Orangeburg	No	No	No	No	(803) 531-2200	587	45	13	100.0%	19 (3.2%)	514 (87.6%)	29 (4.9%)	10 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	13 (2.2%)	$15,460	$1,198	$1,075	$2,273	$11,363	$1,825	$13,187	8.7	10.5	302	19		450391001370
322	Bethune-Bowman Middle/High	Public	6-12	4857 Charleston Highway	Rowesville	29133	Orangeburg County	Orangeburg	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 516-6011	349	25	14	100.0%	18 (5.2%)	269 (77.1%)	57 (16.3%)	2 (0.6%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	$15,558	$1,764	$1,521	$3,285	$10,428	$1,845	$12,273	8.5	6.6	314	8		450391000850
323	Palmetto Middle	Public	6-8	305 O'Neal Street	Mullins	29574	Marion County	Marion 10	No	No	No	Yes	(843) 464-3730	297	15	19.8	100.0%	59 (19.9%)	202 (68.0%)	18 (6.1%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (5.7%)	$16,769	$2,277	$3,842	$6,119	$8,091	$2,559	$10,650	7.8	12.2	293	30		450390800772
324	Johnakin Middle	Public	6-8	601 Gurley Street	Marion	29571	Marion County	Marion 10	No	No	No	Yes	(843) 423-8360	395	25	15.8	100.0%	45 (11.4%)	325 (82.3%)	9 (2.3%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.3%)	$16,024	$2,213	$4,503	$6,716	$7,028	$2,280	$9,308	7.1	8.5	308	16		450390800764
325	Chestnut Oaks Middle	Public	6-8	1200 Oswego Road	Sumter	29153	Sumter County	Sumter 01	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 775-7272	339	21	16.1	100.0%	17 (5.0%)	276 (81.4%)	33 (9.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	11 (3.2%)	$16,083	$1,837	$2,270	$4,108	$9,158	$2,817	$11,975	6.1	6.5	315	10		450390200511
326	Lee Central Middle	Public	6-8	41 Charlene Lane	Bishopville	29010	Lee County	Lee 01	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 428-2100	288	28	10.2	100.0%	23 (8.0%)	252 (87.5%)	10 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	$23,994	$1,531	$5,618	$7,149	$12,107	$4,738	$16,845	6	8.8	307	19		450267001540
327	Macedonia Elementary-Middle	Public	PK, KG-8	556 Jones Bridge Road	Blackville	29817	Barnwell County	Barnwell	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(803) 284-5800	349	24	14.5		40 (11.5%)	254 (72.8%)	25 (7.2%)	9 (2.6%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	19 (5.4%)								5.9			(n/a)		450108000124
328	Blenheim Middle School of Discovery	Public	6-8	143 Highland Street	Blenheim	29516	Marlboro County	Marlboro 01	No	No	No	Yes	(843) 528-3262	367	38	9.6	100.0%	48 (13.1%)	288 (78.5%)	10 (2.7%)	3 (0.8%)	5 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.5%)	$13,264	$643	$384	$1,027	$8,824	$3,413	$12,237	5.7	7.4	312	16		450297000024
329	Clear Dot Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2015 Marion Street	Columbia	29201	Richland County	Charter Institute at Erskine	Yes	No	No	Yes	(803) 567-3075	474	42	11.2	99.3%	55 (11.6%)	383 (80.8%)	15 (3.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (4.2%)	$12,810	$2,409	$1,018	$3,427	$6,273	$3,110	$9,383	5.5	9.4	306	23		450390901717
330	South Carolina Preparatory Leadership School	Public, Charter	6-12	1650 E Greenville Street Suite	Anderson	29621	Anderson County	Limestone Charters Association	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(864) 202-6341	1,005	17	60.9		525 (52.2%)	295 (29.4%)	116 (11.5%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	65 (6.5%)								5.1			(n/a)		450391901809
331	Morningside Middle	Public	6-8	1999 Singley Lane	North Charleston	29405	Charleston County	Charleston 01	No	No	No	Yes	(843) 745-2000	552	50	11.1	100.0%	24 (4.3%)	267 (48.4%)	242 (43.8%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	13 (2.4%)	$22,401	$5,771	$1,776	$7,548	$11,269	$3,584	$14,853	4.9	6.9	313	18		450144000215
332	Carolus Online Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	101 Westpark Boulevard Suite C	Columbia	29210	Richland County	School Public Charter School District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(803) 205-4005	1,786	64	27.9	48.8%	846 (47.4%)	633 (35.4%)	155 (8.7%)	4 (0.2%)	19 (1.1%)	7 (0.4%)	122 (6.8%)	$9,912	$67	$173	$240	$2,607	$7,064	$9,671	4.9	5.6	319	13		450390101780
333	Simmons Pinckney Middle	Public	6-8	244 President Street	Charleston	29403	Charleston County	Charleston 01	No	No	No	Yes	(843) 724-7789	190	25	7.6	100.0%	2 (1.1%)	177 (93.2%)	5 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (3.2%)	$36,562	$4,770	$1,679	$6,450	$23,471	$6,641	$30,112	4.6	6.3	317	16		450144001660
334	Alcorn Middle	Public	6-8	5125 Fairfield Road	Columbia	29203	Richland County	Richland 01	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 735-3439	381	31	12.4	100.0%	11 (2.9%)	295 (77.4%)	55 (14.4%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (5.0%)	$22,494	$2,572	$1,551	$4,123	$15,467	$2,904	$18,371	3.9	6.4	316	18		450336001295
335	Palmetto Achievement Center for Excellence Academy	Public, Charter	2-8	6015 N Main Street	Columbia	29224	Richland County	School Public Charter School District	Yes	No	No	No	(803) 900-0664	216	23	9.3	34.3%	106 (49.1%)	89 (41.2%)	9 (4.2%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (4.6%)	$16,348	$1,802	$163	$1,965	$11,174	$3,208	$14,383	1.3	8.5	309	26		450390101743

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About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on SC READY English Language Arts, SC READY Mathematics, SC READY Science test scores released by the South Carolina Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on August 10, 2026, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the South Carolina Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the South Carolina Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the South Carolina Department of Education.