Summary:
Zip code 29803 in Aiken, SC is served by a single middle school, M. B. Kennedy Middle, which enrolls 643 students in grades 6-8 within the Aiken 01 school district.
For parents considering this area, M. B. Kennedy Middle offers a mixed picture. The school's English Language Arts (ELA) performance is a clear strength, with 8th grade proficiency at 57%—essentially matching the state average of 58.9%—and 7th grade at 55.2%. Mathematics is the bigger challenge, though there is encouraging news: between the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years, 7th grade math proficiency jumped from 22.1% to 34.0%, and 8th grade from 22.2% to 32.4%. These are substantial single-year gains of roughly 10-12 percentage points, suggesting recent interventions may be working. However, math scores still trail state averages (41.8% for 7th grade, 44.2% for 8th grade), leaving a notable gap of about 20-25 points between ELA and math proficiency within the school.
Despite the math improvement, the school's state ranking has declined from the 61st percentile (rank 128 of 325) in 2023-2024 to the 42nd percentile (rank 193 of 335) in 2025-2026, indicating other schools are improving faster. Chronic absenteeism is a concern, affecting 25.0% of students—above the state rate of 22.3% and nearly identical to the district's 25.1%. With a student-teacher ratio of 19:1 and per-student spending of $12,016, resources appear moderate. The school's ELA strength and recent math gains are positive signs, but the ranking decline and absenteeism suggest areas for continued focus. As the only middle school in the zip code, its performance directly shapes the educational experience for all local families.
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