Summary:
Calhoun 01 is a small, rural South Carolina school district with just three schools serving about 1,465 students in grades PK-12, and it currently ranks in the bottom quintile of districts statewide with a 1-star rating.
For parents, the standout is Calhoun County High, which is a genuine bright spot. It boasts an 88.1% graduation rate (above the state average), a zero dropout rate, and English 2 proficiency that actually beats the state. Among the two elementary schools, St. Matthews K-8 School is the more consistent performer, with the district's best 3rd grade ELA scores (54.3%) and strong 4th grade math (44.4%). Sandy Run School, the larger of the two, shows a notable strength in 7th grade math (43.2%), which actually exceeds the state average, but it struggles significantly in 4th grade math, where only 19.6% of students are proficient—a 24.8-point gap behind St. Matthews in the same grade.
The most striking issue district-wide is a dramatic drop in 5th grade ELA, where both elementary schools fall by roughly 17-18 percentage points from 4th grade, far exceeding the state's typical decline. Math trajectories also diverge sharply: Sandy Run improves from 4th to 7th grade, while St. Matthews declines, creating a 20-point gap by 7th grade. Science is the weakest subject overall, with 6th grade proficiency around 21%, about 30 points below the state. Chronic absenteeism is a concern, especially at Sandy Run (27.6%), and despite high per-student spending ($16,927-$19,860), test scores remain low, suggesting resources alone aren't driving outcomes. Year-over-year scores are volatile due to small class sizes, so parents should look at multi-year trends rather than single-year swings.
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