Summary:
Zip code 29569 in Loris, South Carolina, is served by a single middle school, Loris Middle, which enrolls 725 students in grades 6 through 8 within the Horry 01 school district.
For parents, the most important takeaway is that Loris Middle is a school showing real signs of improvement, but it still faces significant challenges. The school has earned a 1-star rating from the state for two consecutive years, and its state ranking has been volatile, dropping from the 38th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 21st percentile in 2024-2025 before recovering slightly to the 29th percentile in 2025-2026. Academically, the school lags behind both the district and state averages in every subject. In math, the situation is most concerning, with fewer than one in three students proficient in any grade level, and 7th and 8th graders trail the state average by 18.5 percentage points. English Language Arts is a relative strength, with proficiency rates near 50%, though still 7 to 9 points below the state. A major red flag is the chronic absenteeism rate of 24.7%, which is higher than both the district (19.4%) and state (22.3%) rates and likely contributes to the academic struggles.
Despite these challenges, there are encouraging signs. The school showed substantial year-over-year improvement across all subjects, including an 11.2-point gain in 6th grade ELA and an 8.9-point gain in 7th grade math. The standout achievement is a perfect 100% proficiency rate on the Algebra 1 End-of-Course exam, far exceeding the district (90%) and state (74%) averages, proving that advanced students can excel. The school also spends a healthy $15,598 per student, and it sits within a top-tier district ranked 9th out of 75 in the state. The combination of rising scores, strong advanced math outcomes, and available resources suggests that Loris Middle has the potential to close the gap, but addressing chronic absenteeism and the persistent math deficit will be critical to that progress.
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