Summary:
Zip code 29860 in North Augusta, SC is served by a single middle school, Merriwether Middle, which enrolls 365 students in grades 6-8 as part of the Edgefield 01 school district.
Merriwether Middle is a well-resourced school with a favorable 14.6:1 student-to-teacher ratio and per-student spending of $14,196. Its clear academic strength is English Language Arts, where it outperforms both district and state averages in every grade level for both the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years. For example, 8th grade ELA proficiency hit 76.3% in 2024-2025, a full 20.6 points above the state average. However, the school faces challenges in other subjects. Math proficiency is mixed—6th and 8th graders beat state averages in 2025-2026, but 7th grade math lags at 36.2% versus the state's 41.8%. Science is also a weak spot, with 6th grade proficiency at 44.3% compared to the state's 51.9%. Notably, ELA scores declined across all grades from 2024-2025 to 2025-2026, with drops ranging from 4.7 to 7.7 percentage points.
Chronic absenteeism is a significant red flag: 24.2% of students are chronically absent, exceeding both the district (22.9%) and state (22.3%) averages. This may be contributing to the school's slipping state ranking, which fell from 87th (73rd percentile, 4 stars) in 2024-2025 to 105th (69th percentile, 3 stars) in 2025-2026, despite test scores that remain above state averages in most areas. The ranking decline suggests other schools across South Carolina are improving faster. For parents, Merriwether Middle offers strong literacy instruction and solid resources, but the rising absenteeism and declining year-over-year scores in ELA, plus persistent gaps in math and science, indicate the school may need targeted interventions to maintain its competitive edge.
Thank you for your feedback!