Liberty Middle, Liberty SC - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Liberty Middle

Liberty Middle sits in the small city of Liberty, an old railroad town in Pickens County that is part of the Greenville metropolitan area. The school serves sixth through eighth grade as a regular public school. Its enrollment is moderate for a middle school, with three roughly equal grade-level groups. The town’s core runs along Front Street, and the school appears to be part of the local fabric rather than set far from downtown, alongside the primary, elementary, and high schools that together form the Liberty school cluster within Pickens 01.

Academically, the school shows a split between English language arts and math. On state assessments, ELA proficiency across all tested grades was above half. In reading and writing, roughly six in ten seventh and eighth graders scored at proficient or above, with sixth graders a few points behind. Math scores were lower and varied by grade. About half of sixth graders met the math standard, but that share dropped to about a quarter of seventh graders and then recovered to about a third of eighth graders. Science, tested only in sixth grade, also landed near half proficient. One social studies result from an older assessment year is available, but changes to that test make the comparison uncertain. Only one year of data exists for the current assessments, so no trend can be drawn. The school’s proficiency cannot be compared to other middle schools in the county because Pickens County’s school district contains only one middle school named in this dataset.

The student body reflects a high-poverty community. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Racially, the school is predominantly white, with a notable Hispanic share and small percentages of Black, multiracial, and Asian students. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not provided, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those programs and supports.

Housing in the area is moderately priced relative to state and national benchmarks, with typical home values below the South Carolina median. That affordability, combined with the town’s small size and its location within commuting distance of Greenville, may attract families looking for a slower pace and lower housing costs. The school district built two new school buildings in a recent period, signaling some investment in local infrastructure. No major district-level changes or controversies were reported in the available public records, and the district brief turned up little of lasting impact.

Liberty Middle has no magnet or charter status. Program offerings, staffing ratios, chronic absenteeism, and discipline data were not available, so a family should seek those details directly. The school’s academic profile shows a stronger language arts foundation and a math performance that could benefit from focus. For a family considering the area, the combination of a small-town setting, a middle-class housing market, and a school with a high-need student population may fit certain priorities and require others to be explored further with school staff.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 648%

School 48% · District 46% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median

Grade 726%

School 26% · District 34% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 32% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 57% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median

Grade 760%

School 60% · District 62% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 859%

School 59% · District 57% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median

Science

Grade 653%

School 53% · District 61% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 771%

School 71% · District 72% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median

This schoolPickens 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-income51%Higher-income63%13 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income58%Higher-income63%5 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income58%Higher-income61%3 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income46%Higher-income53%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income23%Higher-income35%12 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income32%Higher-income35%4 pp gap