Bluffton Middle, Bluffton: zone, report card and calendar

Last checked Oct. 12, 2026. Sources: the school’s website; the Beaufort County School District’s attendance zone maps, 2026-27 academic calendar and school choice page; the S.C. Department of Education’s 2024-25 report card and report card data files; and the federal NCES school directory.

Bluffton Middle is a Beaufort County School District middle school for grades 6 to 8 at 30 New Mustang Drive. It earned a Good overall rating on South Carolina’s 2024-25 report card. “Welcome to Mustang Country!” its website says.

Who to call

• Front office: 843-707-0700, 30 New Mustang Drive
• School website: blms.beaufortschools.net
• Enrolling a new student: register through the zoned school; the district’s registration page explains the steps. District office: 843-322-2300
• Which school is my address zoned for? the district’s attendance zone maps
• Buses: the district’s Bluffton area transportation supervisor, 843-706-8402, on the transportation page

Principal

Principal John “Keith” Stewart, according to the school’s administration page, where he writes that he is in his first year as principal after several years as the school’s assistant principal.

Enrollment and teachers

• State count: 921 students in the 2024-25 school year, according to the state’s report card.
• Federal count: 917 students in the 2023-24 school year, with 65 full-time-equivalent teachers, according to the NCES directory. That is about 14 students per teacher.

State report card

South Carolina rates every public school each year as Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average or Unsatisfactory. An Excellent rating means “school performance substantially exceeds the criteria to ensure all students meet the Profile of the SC Graduate,” according to the state’s report card site. The overall rating is built from indicators such as academic achievement, preparing for success, student progress, English learners’ progress and school climate, with graduation rate and college and career readiness added for high schools.

2024-25 rating: Good, 49 points. On the state’s middle school scale, Excellent 56 to 100, Good 48 to 55, Average 36 to 47, Below Average 29 to 35 and Unsatisfactory 28 and below.

On the spring 2025 SC READY tests in grades 6 to 8, 63.1% of students met or exceeded expectations in English language arts and 45.9% in math; on the state science test, 63.4% did, according to the state’s report card data. Across the district, in grades 3 to 8, the figures were 60.5% in English, 46.4% in math and 49.7% in science.

The full report card, with test results by group, teacher data, school safety and spending, is on the state’s SC School Report Cards site. The state publishes new ratings each fall.

Attendance zone

Check an address on the district’s middle school zone map. On the district’s 2024-25 maps, the Bluffton Middle zone takes in the Red Cedar Elementary zone, most of the Michael C. Riley Elementary zone and the Okatie Elementary zone. At the high school level it is split: the eastern part lies in the Bluffton High zone and the rest in the May River High zone, so the high school depends on the address; check the high school map.

The district says its maps are for reference only: Bluffton is growing fast, newer streets may not yet appear, and families should always confirm with the school. We did not find a published feeder list on the district’s site, so the pairings above come from laying the district’s elementary, middle and high school zone maps over each other.

Calendar and school hours

Bluffton Middle follows the district’s 2026-27 calendar. Coming dates from the academic calendar (PDF):

• Tuesday, Oct. 13: end of the first quarter
• Tuesday, Nov. 3: Election Day, no school
• Wednesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day, no school
• Nov. 25-27: Thanksgiving break
• Dec. 23 to Jan. 5: winter break; students return Wednesday, Jan. 6

School hours: 8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., according to the school’s website.

Programs

The district lists Learning Through Leadership as Bluffton Middle’s choice program, a model built on student leadership that it says aims to build self-esteem, discipline, responsibility, confidence and creativity. BCSD Choice programs let county families apply to a program at a school outside their zone; for 2026-27, applications were due Jan. 15, 2026, a lottery decides when a program has more applicants than seats, and the district does not provide buses to an out-of-zone choice school, according to the school choice page.

More

• The school’s own website and the district’s project page for the school’s buildings
• Every public school in Bluffton, with zones and report cards
• Our Bluffton schools guide for the district calendar, enrollment and the school board

Frequently asked questions

What grades does Bluffton Middle serve?

Bluffton Middle serves sixth, seventh and eighth grades.

What is Bluffton Middle’s school rating?

Bluffton Middle was rated Good, with 49 points on South Carolina’s 2024-25 school report card, the latest the state has published.

Which high school does Bluffton Middle feed into?

On the district’s 2024-25 zone maps, the Bluffton Middle zone is split between the Bluffton High and May River High zones, so it depends on the address. Its elementary schools are Red Cedar, most of Michael C. Riley and Okatie.

What time does Bluffton Middle start?

The school day runs 8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., according to the school’s website.

How do I know if my address is zoned for Bluffton Middle?

Check the Beaufort County School District’s attendance zone maps, then confirm with the school at 843-707-0700. The district says newer streets may not yet appear on the maps.