Saint Marys Middle School, Saint Marys GA

Original Research by School Decision on Saint Marys Middle School

Saint Marys Middle School serves a full complement of middle grades in a coastal town whose identity braids together military employment, tourism, and residential growth. The school draws students across Camden County from a mixed demographic base and sits within a district that has secured substantial capital funding and undergone operational system changes in recent years.

On state testing, results show a common middle-school pattern: proficiency is lowest in the sixth-grade cohort and rises as students progress. In sixth-grade math, proficiency sits in the lower range. By seventh grade it climbs to around half, and by eighth grade it reaches a stronger footing. English language arts follows a similar trajectory, starting at around half proficiency in sixth grade and solidifying to nearly three-fifths by eighth grade. Eighth-grade science proficiency sits near half, and social studies proficiency in eighth grade hovers just above that. The data available spans only the most recent school year, so whether this grade-level progression reflects strong teaching at each level or steady improvement over time cannot be determined from the information at hand.

The enrollment sits at a mid-sized range for a middle school, with roughly equal distributions across the three grades. About half the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating substantial economic need across the student population. The racial and ethnic composition is majority white, with meaningful Black and Hispanic populations, along with smaller numbers of multiracial and Asian students. The school does not report data on students with disabilities or English learners; parents seeking details on those services may want to reach out to the school directly.

Saint Marys itself is a small historic waterfront town experiencing active residential growth. The dominant local employer is Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, which sits adjacent to the city and anchors defense and defense-contractor employment. The town functions simultaneously as a bedroom community for Jacksonville-area workers, a retirement destination, and a tourism gateway to Cumberland Island. This economic diversity means the school serves a mixture of military families, professionals, retirees, and families drawn by the area's lifestyle. Housing values in the zip code are moderate relative to national benchmarks, and rents similarly sit in an accessible range, though the area is in active growth with master-planned communities under development.

Saint Marys Middle sits on a dedicated school campus off the main highway rather than in the historic downtown core; the school campus cluster includes other district buildings and is separate from the walkable downtown district anchored by shops, galleries, and the waterfront. The town has limited public transit and is car-dependent outside the compact historic center.

The school belongs to Camden County Schools, which in 2022 renewed an Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) to fund school capital projects over a multiyear period. The district also recently transitioned from PowerSchool to Infinite Campus as its student information system, a change that affected how families register and access grades and attendance online.

A parent evaluating this school would find proficiency results that show competence by eighth grade but softer footing in the earlier middle years, a mid-sized student body with notable economic and demographic diversity, and placement within a district actively investing in facilities. The school sits in a town undergoing housing growth and economic flux tied to military employment and tourism, not a static or declining community. Program offerings, course access details, and staffing specifics were not available in the data, so a conversation with the school about those aspects would be warranted.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 638%

School 38% · District 39% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 7 pts above state median

Grade 751%

School 51% · District 52% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 17 pts above state median

Grade 871%

School 71% · District 65% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 648%

School 48% · District 49% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 751%

School 51% · District 48% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median

Grade 860%

School 60% · District 55% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median

Science

Grade 849%

School 49% · District 42% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 854%

School 54% · District 53% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median

This schoolCamden County, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income40%Higher-income69%28 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income38%Higher-income63%26 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income46%Higher-income76%29 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income42%Higher-income70%28 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income28%Higher-income47%19 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income50%Higher-income71%21 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income50%Higher-income79%29 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income42%Higher-income65%23 pp gap