Summary:
The Laurens 56 school district in South Carolina serves about 2,568 students across five schools—three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school—and currently holds a 2-star rating, ranking 44th out of 75 districts statewide.
For parents, the standout school in this district is clearly Eastside Elementary, which has earned a 4-star rating for two consecutive years and ranks in the 73rd-75th percentile. It dramatically outperforms its peers: in 4th grade math, Eastside achieves 59.5% proficiency compared to just 20.6% at Clinton Elementary and 22% at Joanna-Woodson Elementary—a striking 39-point gap. Eastside also leads in ELA across all elementary grades (71.9%–76%). Meanwhile, Clinton Middle shines in advanced math, with 91.31% of students scoring proficient on Algebra 1, far exceeding the state average of 73.95%, though its standard math proficiency (31.1%–34.7%) lags behind state averages. At Clinton High, English 2 proficiency is strong at 82.7%, nearly matching the state average, but English 1 (52.34%) and U.S. History (53.46%) fall below state benchmarks.
Several trends stand out. Eastside's success is particularly notable because it spends the least per student ($14,193) while achieving the best results, whereas Joanna-Woodson spends the most ($17,683) yet has declined to a 1-star rating despite having the lowest chronic absenteeism (14.5%) and smallest class sizes. The district's graduation rate (82.7%) trails the state average (86.7%), though its dropout rate (1.0%) is better than the state's 2.1%. Chronic absenteeism is a mixed picture: most schools are below the state average of 22.3%, but Clinton High exceeds it at 26.3%. With the exception of Eastside, every school in the district has seen its ranking decline over the past three years, suggesting systemic challenges that may require district-wide attention.
Thank you for your feedback!