Simmons Pinckney Middle, Charleston SC

Original Research by School Decision on Simmons Pinckney Middle

Simmons Pinckney Middle is a regular public school in downtown Charleston, serving grades six through eight. It is part of the Charleston 01 district. The school is small for a middle school, with an enrollment that reflects the neighborhood it sits in. Nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is overwhelmingly Black, with very small shares of White, Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available.

State assessment results are the central piece of academic information here, and they paint a clear picture. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above was in the single digits at every grade level. In English language arts, proficiency was higher, reaching roughly a third of students in seventh and eighth grade, but remained low overall. Science results for sixth grade followed a pattern similar to math. Social studies data was only available from several years ago and showed fewer than a quarter of students proficient under the state's previous criteria. Because only a single year of recent test data was reported, it is not possible to see whether these levels represent a trend or a snapshot.

The school itself offers no program data to review, so it is unclear what electives, career pathways, or special offerings are available. Charleston 01 is the district, and a search for recent district-level changes did not turn up anything of lasting relevance for parents. The school is not a charter and does not have a reported magnet or Title I status.

Housing in the immediate area is expensive. Home values are well above national and state benchmarks, and rents follow that pattern. The national 30-year mortgage rate was near its recent range. For a family considering the school, the cost of living in this part of Charleston is a major factor independent of the school's performance.

Charleston itself is a city that mixes historic tourism, port activity, aerospace manufacturing, and a growing tech sector sometimes called Silicon Harbor. The downtown peninsula where the school is located has a dense, walkable street grid and landmarks such as the Battery, Rainbow Row, and Waterfront Park. But the city also includes sprawling suburban districts like West Ashley and Cainhoy Peninsula where walkability is much lower. Major employers include the Port of Charleston, Boeing, and the Medical University of South Carolina. The city has been growing steadily and has publicly stated a priority to increase affordable housing, though the housing market remains very tight.

For a parent, Simmons Pinckney Middle presents a school with a very low academic proficiency profile on state tests, serving a high-need population in an expensive coastal city. The school's small size may offer an environment where individual students are known, but the available data does not show how the school supports students who are behind grade level. A parent considering this school would want to speak directly with the staff about academic interventions, enrichment, and the specific course offerings available, since the public data leaves those questions unanswered. The downtown location places the school near the cultural and civic core of the city, but the broader district offers a range of neighborhoods with very different housing costs and commutes.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 69%

School 9% · District 49% · ▼ 41 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 77%

School 7% · District 49% · ▼ 42 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 85%

School 5% · District 45% · ▼ 39 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 623%

School 23% · District 63% · ▼ 40 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 36 pts below county median

Grade 730%

School 30% · District 65% · ▼ 35 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 64% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Science

Grade 619%

School 19% · District 55% · ▼ 36 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 722%

School 22% · District 68% · ▼ 45 pts below district

▼ 42 pts below state median · ▼ 49 pts below 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.