Summary:
Pawleys Island, South Carolina, is served by the Georgetown 01 school district and is home to 5 schools—Waccamaw Elementary, Waccamaw Intermediate, Waccamaw Middle, Waccamaw High, and Coastal Montessori Charter—serving roughly 2,337 students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.
The traditional Waccamaw pathway is the clear strength of this area. Waccamaw Middle is the standout, earning a 5-star rating and ranking 11th out of 335 middle schools in the state (97th percentile). It posts remarkable proficiency rates—82.7% in 8th-grade math and 85% in 7th-grade ELA—and achieves a perfect 100% proficiency on the Algebra 1 end-of-course exam. Waccamaw High is a rising star, climbing from the 73rd to the 89th percentile over three years, with a 94.5% graduation rate and standout English 2 proficiency at 93%. Waccamaw Elementary also excels, with 84.9% ELA and 74.6% math proficiency in 3rd grade, far outpacing district and state averages. Chronic absenteeism across these four schools is impressively low (11-15%), well below the state's 22.3%.
In contrast, Coastal Montessori Charter is a concern. It has dropped to a 1-star rating, with chronic absenteeism at 26.3%—the highest in the district. Its math proficiency is alarmingly low, with 4th-grade math at just 18.8% versus the state's 52.3%, a 30+ point gap. While its ELA scores are closer to state averages, the math deficit and attendance issues are significant. Notably, the district's overall 2-star rating masks the excellence of the Waccamaw schools, which are dragged down by other schools in Georgetown 01. For families, the traditional Waccamaw schools offer a cohesive, high-performing pathway, while the charter school presents clear academic and attendance challenges.
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