Summary:
Williamsburg 01 serves the small, rural community of Greeleyville, South Carolina, with just two schools—Greeleyville STEAM Academy (PK–4, 222 students) and C. E. Murray Middle (5–8, 157 students)—and no high school within town limits, so students leave after 8th grade.
For parents, the standout story is Greeleyville STEAM Academy’s literacy success: its 5th grade ELA proficiency (63.7%) actually beats the state average, and 3rd grade ELA and math both top district averages by more than 12 points. However, the school hits a dramatic “4th grade cliff”—math plunges from 56.1% in 3rd grade to 18.5% in 4th, and science sits at just 10.5% (state: 51.6%). At C. E. Murray Middle, 8th grade ELA (52%) nearly matches the state average, and 6th grade math jumped 14.4 points year-over-year to 40%, close to the state’s 40.9%. Yet 7th grade math remains weak at 29%, and science is a district-wide struggle. The middle school also has a better student-teacher ratio (9.2:1 vs. 12.8:1) and spends less per student ($20,060 vs. $28,236) while achieving comparable or better results in several areas.
The biggest hidden challenge is chronic absenteeism: 30.6% of middle schoolers and 24.2% of elementary students miss significant school time, both above the state’s 22.3%—though below the district’s troubling 35.6%. With small classes and high spending, resources aren’t the issue; targeting the 4th grade transition, science instruction, and attendance would likely yield the greatest gains. The elementary school’s upward ranking trend (20th to 31st percentile) and the middle school’s stability (34th percentile for two years) offer cautious optimism, but the lack of a local high school fragments community continuity and may dampen student investment.
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