Summary:
Zip code 29365, encompassing the Lyman, South Carolina area, is served by a single middle school, D. R. Hill Middle, which educates students in grades 6 through 8 with a total enrollment of 562 students.
As the only middle school in this zip code, D. R. Hill Middle is the central educational hub for the community. The school's most impressive achievement is its perfect 100% proficiency rate on the Algebra 1 EOCEP exam, which far exceeds the district average of 75.25% and the state average of 73.95%. This suggests that students taking advanced math courses receive exceptional instruction. The school also demonstrates strong performance in 7th-grade English Language Arts, with 67.4% proficiency, surpassing both the district (67.1%) and state (59.5%) averages. Overall, the school has shown consistent year-over-year improvement in ELA across all grade levels, with gains ranging from 6 to 8.7 percentage points. Its state ranking has also improved, moving from 140th to 112th out of 335 South Carolina middle schools, placing it in the 67th percentile with a 3-star rating.
However, there are areas of concern for parents to consider. Chronic absenteeism is notably high at 26.3%, which is significantly above the district rate of 19.1% and the state rate of 22.3%. This may contribute to mixed mathematics performance, where 6th-grade (38.5%) and 8th-grade (46.5%) proficiency rates lag behind district averages, despite the strong Algebra 1 results. The school benefits from a favorable 11.1:1 student-teacher ratio and spends $14,394 per student, indicating solid resource allocation. While the school performs well in the 67th percentile statewide, its district, Spartanburg 05, ranks in the 84th percentile among South Carolina districts, suggesting there is room for the school to better align with district-wide best practices. The 7th grade appears to be a particular strength, showing the best relative performance in both ELA and math.
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