Summary:
Lexington 04 is a small, rural South Carolina school district serving about 3,474 students in grades PK-12 across 7 schools, and it currently ranks in the bottom tier of state districts with a 1-star rating. For parents, the most important takeaway is that this district faces significant academic challenges, particularly in mathematics, but there are notable bright spots and a few schools that stand out from the pack.
The standout performer is Swansea High Freshman Academy, which posted an extraordinary 97.43% proficiency rate in Algebra 1—a full 32 points higher than Swansea High’s 65.25% on the same exam. This suggests the Academy’s focused 9th-grade approach is highly effective, though it may also reflect different student cohorts. Meanwhile, Sandhills Elementary is the strongest elementary/middle school, outperforming Frances F. Mack Intermediate by 5-15 percentage points in ELA and math. Sandhills Middle and Sandhills Primary also show relative strength within the district, while Lexington Four Early Childhood Center struggles most with attendance.
District-wide, math proficiency declines sharply with grade level—from 35.1% in 3rd grade to just 14.2% in 7th grade—making middle school a critical intervention point. Chronic absenteeism is a systemic issue, with every school exceeding the state rate of 22.3%; the Early Childhood Center tops out at 43.6%. On the positive side, the district’s graduation rate (86.8%) nearly matches the state average, and its dropout rate (0.9%) is less than half the state’s. Student-teacher ratios are favorable (13.0-15.2), and per-student spending is competitive, yet results lag—pointing to instructional effectiveness and attendance, not resources, as the key levers. Swansea High also showed the district’s biggest improvement, jumping from the 16th to 36th percentile in state rankings.
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