M. B. Kennedy Middle, Aiken SC - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on M. B. Kennedy Middle

M. B. Kennedy Middle, serving grades six through eight, sits in Aiken, a city where equestrian culture and the massive Savannah River Site shape the local economy. The school is part of Aiken 01, the countywide district. Voters recently approved a major bond referendum that includes building a new middle school to replace Kennedy Middle, a fact any family considering this school will want to weigh: this building may be on a path to replacement in the coming years.

Kennedy Middle’s enrollment leans toward the upper grades within its band. The student body is diverse, with the largest group being White students, followed by a substantial share of Black students, a smaller but still sizable Hispanic population, and smaller numbers of Asian and multiracial students. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, meaning the school serves a largely lower-income community.

The school’s academic picture is mixed. On state reading assessments, roughly half of seventh and eighth graders scored proficient or above, a rate that puts the school near the middle for middle schools statewide. In math, however, the number was far lower, with just over a fifth of students hitting the proficient mark. That is an area where parents will want to ask the school directly about its approach to math instruction and intervention. Science data is older, from before the pandemic, and showed a majority of students scoring proficient. Social studies results from that same earlier year were strong, with three-quarters of students meeting the bar. A state cut-score change for reading and science makes direct year-over-year trend comparisons unreliable, but the present snapshot shows reading as a relative strength and math as a clear challenge.

The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Data on chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, course access, and discipline were not available in the materials provided, so a parent looking for a fuller picture of student behavior or teacher workload would need to follow up with the district.

Aiken itself offers a walkable downtown core with shops, restaurants, and civic buildings, set against a broader suburban landscape of car-dependent corridors. The city’s major employers are the Savannah River Site nuclear facility, the regional hospital, the university, and the county government. Housing costs in the area sit at a level that, combined with prevailing mortgage rates and rents, is more affordable than many parts of the country. The district has been undergoing some notable changes beyond the bond vote: a redistricting plan for several elementary schools takes effect soon, a new science-of-reading curriculum has been implemented districtwide in elementary grades, and there has been discussion of potential school closures in the southern part of the county. These shifts may affect feeder patterns or programs down the line.

Kennedy Middle is a school that faces a real academic challenge in mathematics, and its test results in that subject are weak. Its reading scores are more typical of the state average. The bond-funded plan to replace the school means that families who enroll now may see a new facility within a few years, but the timeline and what that transition looks like are details a parent would want to confirm with the district. This is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and it does not offer a specialized program or theme that would attract families from outside its attendance zone. For a family already zoned for Kennedy Middle, the main unresolved question is how the school is working to move the math scores upward.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 722%

School 22% · District 20% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 822%

School 22% · District 22%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 756%

School 56% · District 52% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 854%

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

▲ 1 pts above state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 658%

School 58% · District 43% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 862%

School 62% · district not reported

▲ 14 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 775%

School 75% · District 66% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

This schoolAiken 01, 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-income27%Higher-income59%32 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income45%Higher-income78%33 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income43%Higher-income70%27 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income27%Higher-income60%32 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income15%Higher-income37%23 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income12%Higher-income38%26 pp gap