Spartanburg 02

Spartanburg 02 is a highly-rated South Carolina school district serving approximately 11,700 students across 14 schools—9 elementary, 3 middle, and 2 high schools—and earning a 5-star rating that places it in the 91st percentile statewide.

For parents, the standout school is Cooley Springs-Fingerville Elementary, the district's only 5-star elementary school, ranking in the 92nd percentile with exceptional proficiency rates—86.9% in 4th grade ELA and 85.2% in 3rd grade math, both far exceeding district and state averages. It also has the highest per-student spending at $14,852. Oakland Elementary is the most improved, jumping 90 ranking positions in two years to reach the 80th percentile. At the high school level, Boiling Springs High is the academic powerhouse—the district's largest school with 2,772 students—achieving a 90.3% graduation rate and strong U.S. History (82.5%) and English 2 (84.5%) proficiency, all while spending the least per student ($9,448) and having the highest student-teacher ratio (19.5:1). In contrast, Chesnee High shows concerning trends with 29% chronic absenteeism, a 2.8% dropout rate, and a ranking that slipped 23 positions in one year.

Several patterns emerge across the district. Smaller elementary schools tend to outperform larger ones—Mayo Elementary (328 students) and Carlisle-Foster's Grove Elementary (551 students) both rank in the 77th percentile, while Boiling Springs Elementary (791 students) has fallen to the 48th percentile with a rapid decline in 4th grade scores. Chronic absenteeism is a clear predictor of struggles, particularly in the Chesnee cluster where Chesnee Middle (27.4%) and Rainbow Lake Middle (22.4%) also show elevated rates. The most puzzling issue is the Algebra 1 proficiency collapse at Boiling Springs High, dropping from 87.3% to 36.4% in one year—a decline far steeper than the district-wide drop, suggesting a school-specific problem. Meanwhile, the district's middle schools achieved near-perfect Algebra 1 scores in 2024-2025, and both high schools exceed state averages in English 2 and U.S. History, showing clear subject-area strengths.