McCormick Middle

McCormick Middle is a small, rural school in Mc Cormick, SC, serving just 106 students in grades 6 through 8 as part of the McCormick 01 district.

The most striking story here is a dramatic academic turnaround. After years of ranking in the bottom 10% of South Carolina middle schools, McCormick Middle has climbed from the 4th percentile in 2022-2023 to the 48th percentile in 2025-2026—a massive leap in just three years. This improvement is especially notable for specific student groups: the school now ranks in the 88th percentile for the academic performance of its African American students and the 58th percentile for students from low-income households. That means the school isn't just raising overall scores; it's effectively closing achievement gaps for its most vulnerable students. Concrete examples include 8th-grade ELA proficiency jumping from 21% to 65.7%, and 7th-grade math proficiency rising from a dismal 5% to 37% over the same period.

What's driving this success? The data points strongly to a deliberate investment in staffing and resources. Per-student spending has nearly doubled from $15,761 in 2021-2022 to $29,169 in 2024-2025, while the student-teacher ratio has dropped dramatically from 25.5:1 to just 9.6:1. That means more individual attention for every child. However, one persistent challenge remains: chronic absenteeism. At 25.6%, it's still above both the district (23.5%) and state (22.3%) averages, though it has improved from a peak of 37.1% a few years ago. With no other schools within 20 miles, McCormick Middle is the clear educational hub for this community, and its upward trajectory suggests a school that has fundamentally changed course—one that families should watch with optimism, while keeping an eye on attendance as the key to sustaining this momentum.