Philip Simmons Middle, Wando SC - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Philip Simmons Middle

Philip Simmons Middle is a regular public school serving fifth through eighth graders in Wando, a rapidly growing suburban community in Berkeley County, South Carolina. The school sits in the Berkeley 01 district, which has seen explosive enrollment growth in recent years. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Black population and smaller Hispanic and multiracial groups. About half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a middle ground economically relative to the surrounding area.

Academically, Philip Simmons Middle shows a clear pattern: English language arts proficiency is consistently strong across all four grade levels, with the majority of students scoring at or above the state standard. Math tells a more uneven story. Fifth-grade math proficiency is reasonably solid, but the share of students meeting the bar drops notably in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. This decline across the upper middle grades is a pattern a parent may want to explore further with the school, especially if a child struggles with math transitioning from elementary to middle school. Science was assessed only in sixth grade, where about half of students met the proficiency threshold. Social studies data is older and from a different assessment, so it does not give a current picture. Additionally, South Carolina changed its cut scores for ELA and science in this testing year, which means results cannot be directly compared with prior years.

As a middle school, there is no graduation rate to consider. The school does not report data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing ratios, or course access. Special education and English learner counts were also not available in the data, so a parent interested in those supports would need to contact the school directly.

The community around Philip Simmons Middle is a major part of its story. Wando has transformed from a rural area into a sprawling suburban corridor, with new subdivisions and condominiums filling land along Clements Ferry Road. The area is car-dependent and lacks a traditional downtown; schools themselves act as civic anchors. The Berkeley 01 district passed a large bond referendum in 2022 to fund new schools, expansions, and safety upgrades, and it implemented attendance-zone redistricting for the 2023-24 school year to relieve overcrowding. Housing costs in the zip code are well above state and national averages, reflecting the area's desirability and the pressure of new development. A meaningful comparison of Philip Simmons Middle against other Berkeley County districts was not possible because only one district exists in the county for this analysis.

For families, this school offers a solid ELA program and a student body that is relatively diverse economically and racially. The uneven math results and the lack of published data on programs, staffing, and special services mean that a visit and direct conversation with the school would be essential. The wider context of rapid growth and district-wide construction suggests that attendance zones and school capacity may shift in coming years, something parents relocating to the area should keep in mind.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 40% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 632%

School 32% · District 27% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Grade 737%

School 37% · District 28% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 25% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 573%

School 73% · District 61% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 668%

School 68% · District 52% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 766%

School 66% · District 55% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 865%

School 65% · District 54% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Science

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 42% · ▲ 12 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 571%

School 71% · District 74% · ▼ 3 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 755%

School 55% · District 70% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

This schoolBerkeley 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 5Lower-income45%Higher-income86%41 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income47%Higher-income85%38 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income48%Higher-income80%32 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income57%Higher-income73%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income26%Higher-income69%43 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income12%Higher-income48%36 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income22%Higher-income49%26 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income13%Higher-income44%31 pp gap