Summary:
Rowesville, South Carolina, is served by a single high school, Bethune-Bowman Middle/High, a combined campus in the Orangeburg district that enrolls 349 students in grades 6 through 12.
For parents, the most important takeaway is that this school presents a mixed picture. Academically, it ranks in the bottom 16% of South Carolina districts and has earned a 1-star rating, with state rankings fluctuating between the 2nd and 14th percentile over the past three years. The standout weakness is U.S. History, where only 11.54% of students are proficient—a staggering 50-point gap below the state average. English 1 proficiency (28.57%) and middle school math scores (ranging from 4% to 14.6% proficiency) are also deeply concerning. However, there are notable bright spots. The school's Algebra 1 proficiency rate of 79.59% actually exceeds both the district (64.01%) and state (73.95%) averages, and English 2 proficiency improved dramatically to 77.59%, nearly matching the district average. Most impressively, the graduation rate is 92.2%, well above the district's 80.4% and the state's 86.7%, with a dropout rate of just 1.9%—better than both district and state averages.
The school spends a robust $15,558 per student, yet outcomes remain inconsistent, likely due to high poverty levels and a chronic absenteeism rate of 23.2% (better than the district's 30.9% but slightly worse than the state's 22.3%). Year-to-year volatility is extreme—7th grade math plummeted from 21.4% to 4.0% in one year—which suggests small class sizes where individual students can swing the statistics. The disconnect between low test scores and a high graduation rate may indicate effective credit recovery programs or alternative pathways. While the school struggles in most subjects, the Algebra 1 success and strong graduation outcomes provide building blocks for improvement, though parents should be prepared for significant academic challenges, particularly in history and middle school mathematics.
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