Moultrie Middle, Mount Pleasant SC

Original Research by School Decision on Moultrie Middle

Moultrie Middle serves grades six through eight in Mount Pleasant, a large suburban town in the Charleston metropolitan area. The school is part of Charleston 01, the public school district that covers the county. The town itself has grown rapidly over the past several decades, transforming from a seasonal resort for Charleston residents into a sprawling residential and commercial corridor that extends northeastward along U.S. Route 17. Recent growth-management policies have intentionally slowed new development, limiting building permits and barring new apartment complexes, condos, and townhomes for a period. Housing values in the zip code area are well above the national median, and rents follow a similar pattern. The local economy includes light industry, shipyards, tourism, and seafood, with Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum as a major anchor.

Moultrie Middle is a regular public school with an enrollment that is typical for a middle school serving three grade levels. The student body composition is one of the most notable characteristics of the school. A very large majority of students are white, with smaller shares of Black, Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students. About one in five students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a modest share compared to many schools in the region. The school is not a Title I school, and data on students with disabilities and English learners were not available.

Academic performance on state assessments is strong across the board. In English language arts, the share of students scoring proficient or above was high for every grade level, consistently above eight in ten students. Math performance was also solid, with proficiency rates for grades six, seven, and eight all above seven in ten. Science results for grade six were similarly strong, with about three in four students reaching proficiency. Social studies data is older, from a testing year before the pandemic, but at that time the proficiency rate was high. Because the state changed its scoring standards for ELA and science in recent years, trend comparisons are not reliable, but the single-year picture shows a school where the vast majority of students are meeting the state's academic benchmarks.

The district did not have recent parent-relevant changes, such as bond referendums or curriculum shifts, to report. The comparison to other schools in Charleston County was not possible because the county has only one district, so there is no cohort of districts to position Moultrie against. The school does not offer high school grades, so there is no graduation rate. Chronic absenteeism data and discipline data were not available in the source material.

For a family considering this school, the academic profile is a clear strength. The proficiency rates are high in all tested subjects, and the middle school years appear to be a time when most students are performing at grade level or above. The school's student body is not very diverse, and the housing market in Mount Pleasant is expensive, so the school draws from a relatively affluent area. A parent may want to ask about services for students with disabilities and English learners, as that information was not reported in the available data. The town's growth has slowed, and the school context is one of a mature suburban community rather than a rapidly expanding one. The school sits on Coleman Boulevard in Mount Pleasant, near the historic Old Village area and not far from the Arthur Ravenel Bridge that connects to Charleston. The walkability of the immediate school area is not clear from the data, but the broader town is largely car-dependent suburban sprawl outside the historic core.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 676%

School 76% · District 49% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 42 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

Grade 772%

School 72% · District 49% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 44 pts above state median · ▲ 45 pts above county median

Grade 870%

School 70% · District 45% · ▲ 26 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 685%

School 85% · District 63% · ▲ 22 pts above district

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

Grade 788%

School 88% · District 65% · ▲ 22 pts above district

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

Grade 885%

School 85% · District 64% · ▲ 22 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 673%

School 73% · District 55% · ▲ 18 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 789%

School 89% · District 68% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 18 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-income61%Higher-income91%30 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income69%Higher-income91%22 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income73%Higher-income89%15 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income48%Higher-income83%35 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income45%Higher-income77%32 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income52%Higher-income75%23 pp gap