Summary:
Zip code 29831 is home to just one middle school, Jackson STEM Middle, which serves grades 6-8 with 302 students in the Aiken 01 district.
For parents considering this school, the most important takeaway is that Jackson STEM Middle is struggling academically, especially in math, despite its STEM focus. In 2025-2026, only 19% of 6th graders and 24.4% of 7th graders were proficient in math—roughly half the state average. Even 8th grade math, at 31.6%, trails the state by over 12 points. English Language Arts is more mixed: 7th graders hit 54.7% proficiency (close to the state's 59.5%), but 6th graders dropped to 40%, well below the state's 56.3%. The school also lags its own district in nearly every subject and grade level, with the largest gaps in 6th grade math (13.8 points behind) and 6th grade ELA (10.3 points behind).
The school's trajectory is concerning. Its state ranking has fallen from 201st (38th percentile) in 2023-2024 to 246th (27th percentile) in 2025-2026, and its star rating dropped from 2 to 1. Chronic absenteeism is a major red flag at 28.2%, nearly 6 points above the state average, which likely contributes to the academic struggles. While per-student spending is $13,573 and the student-teacher ratio is a reasonable 15.1:1, these resources aren't translating into results. On a positive note, math scores did improve across all grades from the prior year, with 7th grade jumping 7.7 points. Still, the combination of declining rankings, high absenteeism, and persistent underperformance—especially in math, the school's namesake subject—suggests Jackson STEM Middle needs targeted intervention in both instruction and attendance.
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