Pelion Elementary

Pelion Elementary is a PK-5 public school in the rural town of Pelion, SC, serving 642 students as part of the highly-ranked Lexington 01 school district.

The most exciting news for parents is that Pelion Elementary is on the upswing. In the most recent school year, the school's overall state ranking jumped from the 21st percentile to the 36th percentile—a significant leap that shows up in nearly every subject and grade level. For example, 4th-grade reading proficiency rose from 52.2% to 62.4%, and 3rd-grade math jumped from 45.2% to 56.6%. That said, the school still faces real challenges. Chronic absenteeism is a major concern, with 34.1% of students missing too many days—about 50% higher than the state average. This rate has been climbing steadily over the past few years. There's also a widening gap between boys and girls, with boys performing much better than girls in recent testing. On a positive note, the school has shown remarkable success with its students with disabilities, moving from the 7th percentile to the 56th percentile in just two years—a genuine success story that shows the school can implement effective interventions.

One thing to keep in mind is that Pelion Elementary spends a lot per student ($17,679) but still trails many nearby schools academically. For instance, Deerfield Elementary achieves higher math scores with less funding. The school also has a persistent "math gap" that widens as students get older—by 5th grade, only 29.1% of students are proficient in math, compared to the district average of over 53%. Interestingly, Pelion and its neighbor Forts Pond Elementary are the two lowest-performing schools in the district, suggesting these challenges are tied to the local community rather than district-wide issues. The recent improvements are encouraging, but they're concentrated in the lower grades, so parents of older students should pay close attention to math preparation for middle school.