Alice Drive Middle, Sumter SC - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Alice Drive Middle

Alice Drive Middle is a regular public school in Sumter, South Carolina, serving grades six through eight as part of the Sumter 01 district. It sits on a single campus within the city, which functions as a regional hub for east-central South Carolina, anchored by Shaw Air Force Base, a major medical center, and a mix of manufacturing, aerospace, and education employers. The school’s student body is diverse in composition. A majority of students are Black, with a substantial white enrollment and smaller shares of Asian, Hispanic, and multiracial students. Every enrolled student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the high level of economic need in the community the school serves. The enrollment is moderate for a middle school, spread roughly evenly across the three grade levels.

On the most recent state assessments, known as SC Ready, the school’s academic results vary by subject. In English language arts, proficiency rates across sixth, seventh, and eighth grades clustered above the midpoint of the possible range, with about half or more of students scoring at the proficient level or above. This suggests that a solid share of the student body is meeting grade-level expectations in reading and writing. Math performance was noticeably lower. In every grade, fewer than a third of students reached proficiency, and the rate declined slightly from sixth to eighth grade. The combined math proficiency rate across all tested grades was well below what is typical, a gap that parents may want to explore further with the school to understand what supports are available. Science, tested only in sixth grade, showed a proficiency rate near the midpoint, with roughly half of students meeting the bar. One additional data point comes from a social studies assessment in seventh grade from the 2018-19 school year, but that test has since changed, and the results are too old to be current.

No comparison to other middle schools in Sumter County is possible because the county is served by a single school district, leaving no peer set for relative positioning. The school itself does not report graduation rates, chronic absenteeism, or discipline data, and no information on course access or staffing was available for this profile. Several state assessment changes in recent years, including new cut scores for ELA and science, mean that trend comparisons are not reliable.

The housing market around the school is relatively affordable compared to state and national benchmarks, with home values and rents below broader averages. The city of Sumter offers downtown events, more than three dozen parks, and a recognizable civic core, though daily life in the wider area is car-dependent. No major district-level changes or initiatives were identified in public sources.

Alice Drive Middle serves a high-poverty community where ELA outcomes are a relative bright spot and math outcomes are an area of concern. Parents considering the school will want to ask about math intervention programs and how the school supports students who arrive below grade level. The school’s size is typical for a middle school, and its student body is majority Black, with a meaningful white minority and smaller representation from other groups. The broader Sumter area provides a stable, working-city environment with a significant military presence and a range of employment sectors.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 634%

School 34% · District 21% · ▲ 13 pts above district

even with state median

Grade 728%

School 28% · District 17% · ▲ 11 pts above district

even with state median

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 17% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 655%

School 55% · District 42% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median

Grade 756%

School 56% · District 46% · ▲ 10 pts above district

even with state median

Grade 857%

School 57% · District 43% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median

Science

Grade 649%

School 49% · District 31% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 763%

School 63% · District 53% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median

This schoolSumter 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-income46%Higher-income78%32 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income45%Higher-income78%34 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income46%Higher-income80%34 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income23%Higher-income59%35 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income15%Higher-income54%40 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income21%Higher-income41%21 pp gap