Wren Elementary

Wren Elementary in Piedmont, SC, is a consistently high-performing school serving 646 students in grades PK through 5, and it stands out as one of the top elementary schools in the state, even within the highly ranked Anderson 01 district.

For parents, the most important takeaway is that Wren delivers exceptional academic results. In the 2025-2026 school year, proficiency rates in English Language Arts ranged from 81.6% to 87% across grades 3-5, compared to a state average of around 64%. Math scores are equally impressive, with 4th-grade proficiency at 87.9%—a staggering 35.6 percentage points above the state average. The school also excels at supporting students from low socio-economic backgrounds, ranking in the 98th percentile statewide for this subgroup in recent years, which shows a remarkable ability to close achievement gaps. Additionally, Wren has a significantly lower chronic absenteeism rate (11.4%) than the district (17.5%) or state (22.3%), indicating a positive and engaging school culture. The school achieves all of this with a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.7 and per-student spending of $10,580, which is notably more efficient than many peers—for example, Sue Cleveland Elementary spends $14,808 per student yet ranks lower.

While Wren's long-term track record is stellar, there are a couple of things to watch. Its most recent statewide rank of 50th (92nd percentile) is its lowest in four years, a slight dip from 25th the previous year. Also, 5th-grade math proficiency (62.3%) is consistently lower than 3rd and 4th-grade scores, though still above state averages. The closest comparable school is Spearman Elementary, just 2.6 miles away, which improved from 68th to 42nd in the same period—so the local educational landscape is shifting. Still, Wren remains in the top 8% of all South Carolina schools, and its contrast with Lakes and Bridges Charter School, which ranks in the bottom 1% with proficiency rates often below 30%, underscores just how strong Wren's academic program truly is.