Summary:
St. James High and Seaside Elementary serve the Murrells Inlet, South Carolina area within the highly-rated Horry 01 district, covering grades PK-4 and 9-12 respectively, with no middle school located directly in the city.
For parents, the standout story here is St. James High, a large school of 1,826 students that has earned a 5-star rating for three consecutive years and consistently ranks in the 90th percentile statewide. Its academic performance is exceptional, particularly in Algebra 1 where 97.1% of students score proficient—a remarkable 32.5 points above the state average and a 7-point improvement over the prior year. The school also boasts a 91.5% graduation rate and an incredibly low 0.8% dropout rate. However, chronic absenteeism runs at 24.4%, above the state average, which is a counterintuitive finding for such a high-performing school. Seaside Elementary, with 398 students, is a solid 4-star school but has seen its state ranking slip from 78th to 123rd over two years. Its 4th-grade ELA scores remain strong at 84.1% proficiency, but 3rd-grade ELA dropped sharply by 8.1 points, which may explain the declining trajectory.
Comparing the two, St. James High outperforms Seaside Elementary relative to state averages, despite spending less per student ($13,791 vs. $16,330) and having a higher student-teacher ratio (17.5:1 vs. 12.4:1). Both schools exceed district and state averages in every subject, making them strong choices within an already well-regarded district. The lack of a local middle school means students in grades 5-8 travel to neighboring communities, a transition point that hasn't hindered eventual high school success. For parents, this area offers a high-performing educational pipeline, with the high school being the clear academic powerhouse and the elementary school providing a strong, though slightly softening, foundation.
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