Summary:
Middle Schools in zip code 29718 consist of a single school, New Heights Middle, serving grades 6 through 8 with 457 students in the Jefferson, SC area, part of the Chesterfield 01 district.
For parents considering this area, New Heights Middle is the only middle school option, and it faces significant academic challenges. The school ranks in the 11th percentile statewide (298th out of 335 schools), though this is an improvement from the 7th percentile two years ago. The most pressing concern is mathematics, where proficiency rates are roughly half the state average across all grade levels—for example, only 17.2% of 6th graders are proficient in math compared to 40.9% statewide. English Language Arts performance is somewhat better but still below state averages, with 7th graders showing the strongest results at 48.2% proficiency. Science proficiency for 6th graders stands at 29.8% versus the state's 51.9%. A major red flag is the chronic absenteeism rate of 32.6%, meaning nearly one in three students misses significant school time, which is substantially higher than the district's 24.1% and the state's 22.3%.
Despite spending a substantial $12,791 per student—a figure that exceeds many districts—the academic outcomes do not reflect that investment, suggesting resource allocation or instructional effectiveness may need review. The student-teacher ratio of 16.3 is reasonable, but the combination of high absenteeism and low test scores points to deeper engagement issues. On a positive note, the school's state ranking has trended upward over three years, from the 7th to the 11th percentile, indicating some progress. However, parents should be aware that 8th-grade math proficiency, while improving from an exceptionally low 8.3% to 22.6%, still leaves the vast majority of students below grade level. Overall, this school requires strong parental involvement and supplemental academic support, particularly in mathematics, to help students succeed.
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