Laing Middle, Mount Pleasant SC - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Laing Middle

Laing Middle is a regular public school serving grades six through eight in Mount Pleasant, a large suburban town within the Charleston metropolitan area. It sits in the northeastern part of town along the U.S. Route 17 corridor, an area that has seen extensive residential development over the past few decades. The school is part of Charleston 01, the county’s school district.

The academic picture at Laing Middle is strong across tested subjects. In English language arts, students in each grade score at a high level, with a clear majority demonstrating proficiency. Math results are also solid, though they vary somewhat by grade: students in the middle grades perform particularly well, while the eighth-grade cohort shows a slightly lower, though still respectable, rate. Science results for sixth graders are similarly strong. A parent considering Laing Middle can expect a school where most students meet the state’s academic benchmarks. It is worth noting that only one year of assessment data is currently available, so there is no trend to evaluate yet. The school also holds older social studies results from several years ago on a different assessment; those numbers were very high but are too dated to serve as a reliable current measure.

The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller but still notable share of Black students and a modest Hispanic presence. Asian and multiracial students make up the remainder. About one-fifth of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that points to a relatively low-poverty school compared with many others in the region. Data on special education identification and English learner status were not provided, so a parent seeking those specifics would need to ask the school directly. Likewise, chronic absenteeism and discipline data are absent from the available record, which a family may want to explore further.

Mount Pleasant itself is an affluent, largely residential community that has experienced explosive growth over the last couple of decades. More recently, the town has deliberately slowed new construction through permit caps and density limits, leading to a slight population dip that signals a shift toward managed, slower growth rather than unconstrained expansion. The housing market reflects this desirability: home values and rents sit well above national and state medians. The town’s economy rests on light industry, shipyards, tourism, and seafood, with the Patriots Point naval museum serving as a major civic and tourist anchor. The historic Old Village offers a walkable core, but most of the town is car-dependent suburban sprawl stretched along the U.S. 17 corridor. Families moving to the area should expect high housing costs and a long-established pattern of sprawl, balanced by strong schools and a desirable coastal location.

Laing Middle does not offer a high school program, so there is no graduation rate to report, and the school does not participate in the same accountability measures as high schools. For parents weighing options, this school represents a consistently high-performing middle school in a fast-growing but now stabilizing suburb with a very expensive housing market. The environment is one where most students arrive from relatively well-off backgrounds, and the academic outcomes reflect that advantage. A parent seeking a middle school with reliable, above-average test results in a suburban setting will find Laing Middle a strong fit.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 671%

School 71% · District 49% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Grade 774%

School 74% · District 49% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 46 pts above state median · ▲ 47 pts above county median

Grade 865%

School 65% · District 45% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 679%

School 79% · District 63% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 784%

School 84% · District 65% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 884%

School 84% · District 64% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Science

Grade 672%

School 72% · District 55% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 792%

School 92% · District 68% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

This schoolCharleston 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-income57%Higher-income86%29 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income70%Higher-income87%18 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income61%Higher-income90%28 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income42%Higher-income79%37 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income58%Higher-income78%20 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income39%Higher-income71%32 pp gap