Summary:
Zip code 29180 in Winnsboro, SC, is served by a single middle school, Fairfield Middle, which enrolls 311 students in grades 7 and 8 as part of the Fairfield 01 district.
For parents considering this area, Fairfield Middle offers a notably personalized environment with a very low student-teacher ratio of 8.6:1 and high per-student spending of $23,377. However, the school's overall ranking has slipped recently, dropping from the 42nd percentile in 2024-2025 to the 25th percentile for 2025-2026. The most striking academic finding is a sharp contrast between subject areas: while only about 21-27% of 7th and 8th graders are proficient in grade-level math (well below state averages of roughly 42-44%), the school reports a perfect 100% proficiency rate on the Algebra 1 End-of-Course exam. This suggests a small, high-achieving group of advanced math students exists alongside a larger population struggling with on-grade-level mathematics. English Language Arts proficiency is closer to state norms, with 7th grade at 50.4% and 8th grade at 49.3%, though still below the state averages of about 59%.
A major concern for families is chronic absenteeism, which stands at 26.9%—significantly higher than both the district (19.6%) and state (22.3%) averages. This likely contributes to the low math scores and the school's declining performance trend. Notably, the school's scores closely mirror the district average in most subjects, indicating these challenges are systemic to Fairfield 01 rather than unique to this campus. Despite the high spending and small class sizes, the school is underperforming relative to the state, suggesting that resource allocation alone hasn't solved issues related to student readiness and attendance. Parents should weigh the benefits of the intimate learning environment against the academic struggles and absenteeism rates when evaluating this school.
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