Summary:
Pinewood, South Carolina, is home to just one elementary school, Manchester Elementary, which serves grades PK-5 and enrolls 378 students within the Sumter 01 school district.
For parents considering Manchester Elementary, the most pressing concern is chronic absenteeism: nearly half of students (49.4%) are chronically absent, which is more than double the state average of 22.3% and well above the district's 35.9%. This likely contributes to the school's low state ranking (565th out of 649 schools) and its district's 1-star rating. Academically, the school shows a troubling pattern of declining performance as students advance. In the most recent year, 3rd graders scored 49.1% proficient in both ELA and math, but by 5th grade, proficiency plummeted to 27.2% in ELA and just 16.3% in math—a staggering 32.8-point gap behind the state average in 5th-grade math. The year-over-year data also reveals dramatic swings: 5th-grade ELA dropped 22.2 points, while 3rd-grade math improved by 21 points, suggesting inconsistent instruction or significant cohort differences.
Despite spending a relatively high $16,529 per student, outcomes remain weak, raising questions about resource effectiveness. However, there is a bright spot: 3rd-grade math proficiency (49.1%) nearly matches the district average, indicating that early-grade interventions may be working. The school also showed modest gains in 4th-grade science (32.7% to 35.8%). For parents, the key takeaway is that Manchester Elementary faces significant challenges, especially in upper grades and math, but the strong early-grade results suggest targeted support could help. Addressing the absenteeism crisis should be the top priority, as it likely underpins many of the academic struggles seen across all grade levels.
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