Robert E. Howard Middle, Orangeburg SC

Original Research by School Decision on Robert E. Howard Middle

Robert E. Howard Middle is a regular public school in Orangeburg, South Carolina, serving grades six through eight. It sits within the Orangeburg school district and draws its students from a community shaped by two historically Black universities, a technical college, and a largely flat population trend that has seen some downtown revitalization efforts in recent years.

The school enrolls a moderate-sized student body for a middle school, composed overwhelmingly of Black students, with a small Hispanic population and very few white or multiracial students. Every student qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a direct signal of the high poverty level in the attendance zone.

State testing results from the most recent year show a clear pattern. In math, proficiency is low across all three grade levels. Grade seven posts the weakest result, while grades six and eight are somewhat higher but still within a low range. In English language arts, performance is modest: about a third of sixth graders meet the proficiency benchmark, and that share rises to around two-fifths in seventh and eighth grades. Science, tested only in grade six, shows a similar modest share reaching proficiency. A parent considering this school may want to ask directly about how the school supports students who are below grade level in math, since that subject shows the largest gap, and about any literacy interventions available for the sizable share of students who are not yet proficient in reading and writing.

The school does not report data on chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, or staffing ratios, so those details are not available here. No information about course offerings beyond the core assessed subjects was provided either. A parent looking into those areas would need to reach out to the school or district for specifics.

Orangeburg itself is the county seat, located about a short drive southeast of Columbia along the Edisto River. The two universities—Claflin and South Carolina State—anchor the city’s identity and provide major employment alongside the Regional Medical Center and county government. The downtown core along Russell Street has been the focus of revitalization planning, including a proposed pedestrian bridge to improve connectivity. Residential neighborhoods and campuses are interwoven, but the city remains car-dependent for most daily errands. Housing is affordable relative to state and national benchmarks, and rents are modest.

The district itself did not have any recent parent-relevant changes publicly reported, so the school’s academic and operational direction appears stable in the short term.

Robert E. Howard Middle fits families who want a neighborhood public school that reflects the high-poverty, historically Black community of central Orangeburg. The core academic challenge is math, where most students are not yet at grade-level proficiency, and a parent should expect to engage with the school on how that is being addressed. The school offers a conventional middle school experience without magnet or charter status, and the surrounding community provides a set of university and civic anchors that are distinctive for a small Southern city.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 622%

School 22% · District 19% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 713%

School 13% · District 13%

▼ 15 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 822%

School 22% · District 13% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 34% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 741%

School 41% · District 40% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 842%

School 42% · District 35% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Science

Grade 624%

School 24% · District 25% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

This schoolOrangeburg, 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.