Best Public Schools in Gray Court, SC

Summary:

The city of Gray Court, South Carolina is home to two elementary/middle schools: Gray Court-Owings Elementary/Middle and Hickory Tavern Elementary/Middle. Based on the available data, Hickory Tavern appears to be the standout school in the area, outperforming Gray Court-Owings and the overall Laurens 55 school district on various academic metrics.

Hickory Tavern Elementary/Middle has a higher statewide school ranking, placing 371st out of 640 South Carolina elementary schools, compared to Gray Court-Owings which ranked 554th. Hickory Tavern also has a higher SchoolDigger rating of 2 stars, while Gray Court-Owings is rated 1 star. In the 2024-2025 school year, Hickory Tavern outperformed Gray Court-Owings and the district average in English Language Arts, Math, and Science proficiency for 3rd and 4th graders.

However, both schools face significant challenges, including high chronic absenteeism rates, very high rates of free/reduced lunch recipients, and relatively low per-student spending. Additionally, the Laurens 55 school district as a whole is underperforming, ranking 61st out of 75 districts in the state. To improve outcomes for students in Gray Court, the district and schools will need to address the root causes of chronic absenteeism, provide additional academic and social-emotional support for economically disadvantaged students, and ensure equitable access to high-quality teaching and learning resources across all schools.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				SC READY English Language Arts (2025)						SC READY Mathematics (2025)						SC READY Science (2025)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	SC READY English Language Arts 3rd Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 4th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 5th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 6th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 7th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 8th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 3rd Grade	SC READY Mathematics 4th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 5th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 6th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 7th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 8th Grade	SC READY Science 4th Grade	SC READY Science 6th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel Spending from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel Spending from Federal Funds	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Personnel Spending from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Sub-total Spending from State and Local Funds
Hickory Tavern Elementary/Middle	Public	PK, KG-8	163 Neely Ferry Road	Gray Court	29645	Laurens County	Laurens 55	No	No	No	Yes	(864) 575-2126	623	51	12.2		530 (85.1%)	43 (6.9%)	38 (6.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (1.8%)	40.7	371^st of 640 public elementary schools	42.0%		34.4	417^th of 638 public elementary schools	34.6%	46	63.4	57.6	63.8	50.0	50.8	48.4	43.3	36.4	40.4	28.0	28.6	22.6	45.4	42.7	$14,926	$1,280	$454	$1,734	$10,682	$2,510	$13,192
Gray Court-Owings Elementary/Middle	Public	PK, KG-8	9210 Highway 14	Gray Court	29645	Laurens County	Laurens 55	No	No	No	Yes	(864) 876-2131	715	68	10.5		379 (53.0%)	117 (16.4%)	176 (24.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	8 (1.1%)	33 (4.6%)	16.6	554^th of 640 public elementary schools	13.4%		14.2	560^th of 638 public elementary schools	12.2%	6	37.8	47.4	38.3	42.4	47.8	46.5	37.9	34.2	16.1	7.5	20.3	11.3	30.2	39.4	$14,778	$1,293	$429	$1,722	$10,446	$2,609	$13,055

Cities Near Gray Court

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Fountain Inn	7.71 mi	2	37^th
Laurens	7.77 mi	6	194^th
Simpsonville	9.26 mi	18	23^rd
Pelzer	9.71 mi	3	45^th
Woodruff	11.69 mi	4	62^nd

See the top SC South Carolina cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the South Carolina Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.