Elementary Schools in Chesterfield 01

The Chesterfield 01 school district in rural South Carolina serves 9 elementary schools—including primary, intermediate, and PK-6 configurations—with a total enrollment of roughly 3,273 students, and the district overall ranks in the 21st percentile statewide.

For parents, the standout school in this area is Ruby Elementary, which ranks in the 50th percentile (322nd out of 649 schools) and is the clear top performer. It leads the district in 5th grade ELA (72.1% proficient) and 4th grade science (40%), and it has improved its state ranking three years in a row. Plainview Elementary also shows promise, posting the district’s highest 3rd grade ELA score (65.2%) and the lowest chronic absenteeism rate (17.4%) among schools with test data. On the other end, Cheraw Intermediate and Pageland Elementary are the lowest performers, both ranking in the bottom 7% statewide and showing declining scores over three years. Edwards Elementary is the largest school (538 students) and sits in the middle of the pack, while McBee Elementary spends the most per student ($15,844) but only ranks mid-district.

Key challenges across the district include math and science achievement, with gaps of 14–18 points and nearly 24 points below state averages, respectively. Chronic absenteeism is also a concern, averaging 24.1% district-wide, with Petersburg Primary the highest at 34.7%. Notably, the two highest-performing schools (Ruby and Plainview) have the lowest absenteeism rates, and smaller schools with better student-teacher ratios (11.6:1 at Ruby and McBee) tend to outperform larger ones. Spending does not correlate with results—Ruby achieves top scores with below-average funding. The primary-to-intermediate transition appears particularly difficult, as Cheraw Primary and Petersburg Primary feed into struggling intermediate schools. Despite these hurdles, Ruby’s success shows that high performance is achievable here, and its practices could serve as a model for the rest of the district.