Lake Marion Middle

Lake Marion Middle in Santee, SC, serves 501 students in grades 6 through 8 and is part of the Orangeburg school district. The school currently ranks in the bottom 8% of middle schools statewide, placing it at 307th out of 335 schools in South Carolina.

For parents, the most important takeaway is that Lake Marion shows a clear strength in 8th-grade English Language Arts (ELA). Proficiency rates climb steadily from 32.4% in 6th grade to 37.5% in 7th grade, then jump to 48.5% in 8th grade—a score that actually exceeds the district average of 43.5% and beats nearby Scott's Branch Middle (43.7%) in the same subject. This upward trend suggests the school is doing something right in its later middle school years, particularly in literacy. However, mathematics is a major concern. Proficiency rates are drastically below state averages across all grade levels—for example, only 11.9% of 7th graders are proficient in math compared to the state average of 41.8%. The school also struggles significantly with serving its disabled students, ranking in the 2nd percentile statewide, and its economically disadvantaged students rank in the 8th percentile.

When compared to other local schools, the picture is mixed. Lake Marion outperforms Robert E. Howard Middle (also in the Orangeburg district) in 8th-grade ELA (48.5% vs. 42.4%) and 8th-grade math (28.2% vs. 21.8%), though it trails in 6th and 7th grades. Meanwhile, Woodland Middle in the Dorchester 04 district consistently outperforms Lake Marion in every subject and grade level. The student-to-teacher ratio at Lake Marion is 14.1, which is better than Robert E. Howard's 15.4 but worse than Woodland's 11.9. Overall, while Lake Marion faces significant challenges—especially in math—its 8th-grade ELA results offer a promising foundation that school leaders could build upon.