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Brookdale Elementary

Public Grades PK, KG-5

518^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 640 South Carolina Elementary Schools

Better than 19% of South Carolina elementary schools

Summary

Brookdale Elementary is a public elementary school in Orangeburg, South Carolina, serving 245 students in grades PK-5. The school is part of the Orangeburg School District, which is ranked 66 out of 75 districts in the state and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Brookdale Elementary faces significant academic challenges, with student performance on SC READY assessments generally lower than the district and state averages across all grade levels and subject areas. For example, in the 2024-2025 school year, only 37.5% of 3rd graders at Brookdale were proficient or better in English Language Arts, compared to 39.8% in Orangeburg and 61.8% statewide. The school's performance is particularly low in Mathematics, with only 26.5% of 4th graders and 45.5% of 5th graders proficient or better. Additionally, Brookdale Elementary has consistently high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 18.6% to 33.1% over the past few years, significantly higher than the state average.

While Brookdale Elementary's academic performance is lower than nearby schools in the Orangeburg district, such as Elloree Elementary, Bethune-Bowman Elementary, and Edisto Elementary, the school does have a relatively low student-teacher ratio, ranging from 13.1 to 14.1 over the past few years. However, the higher spending per student at Brookdale Elementary, which has increased from $13,512 in 2020-2021 to $18,559 in 2023-2024, has not translated to improved academic outcomes, suggesting that simply increasing funding may not be the sole solution to the school's challenges.

215

Students ?

13.2

Student/teacher ratio ?

$17,461

Per pupil spending ?

100%

Free/discounted lunch ?

394 Brookdale Drive
Orangeburg, SC 29115

(803) 534-5982

District: Orangeburg

Students who attend Brookdale Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Robert E. Howard Middle
High:	Orangeburg Wilkinson High

Racial breakdown:

African American:

86.0%

Hispanic:

8.4%

White:

2.8%

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At a glance

▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 28th percentile in 2022 → 19th in 2025

Worth a look

!Test scores below the South Carolina average (39% vs 56% meeting standards)

!In the lower quartile statewide (19th percentile)

!Ranking has slipped — down 9 percentile points since 2022

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school39%

District avg37%

South Carolina avg56%

518^th of 640

South Carolina public elementary schools ?

Bottom 19%▼ down 9 pts since 2022

From bottom 28% (2022) to bottom 19% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of South Carolina Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

4^th of 14Elementary Schools in the Orangeburg

66^th of 75Orangeburg among South Carolina districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2025	21.6	518 of 640	19.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	34.3	418 of 638	34.5%	★★☆☆☆
2023	36.1	413 of 644	35.9%	★★☆☆☆
2022	28.2	448 of 625	28.3%	★☆☆☆☆

African American

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2025	44.3	216 of 381	43.3%	★★☆☆☆
2024	67.9	86 of 369	76.7%	★★★★☆
2023	66.7	100 of 394	74.6%	★★★★☆
2022	60.1	128 of 393	67.4%	★★★☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2023	35.7	381 of 580	34.3%	★★☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2025	29.2	456 of 613	25.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	46.4	323 of 599	46.1%	★★☆☆☆
2023	45.6	326 of 608	46.4%	★★☆☆☆
2022	32.3	418 of 600	30.3%	★★☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2022	12.0	522 of 579	9.8%	★☆☆☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

African American (2025)43rd percentile+24 vs school

Female (2023)34th percentile~ school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)26th percentile+7 vs school

Male (2022)10th percentile-18 vs school

By subject vs South Carolina (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts41%-21 vs state

Mathematics40%-12 vs state

Science26%-23 vs state

★

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Schools Near Brookdale Elementary

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				SC READY English Language Arts (2025)						SC READY Mathematics (2025)						SC READY Science (2025)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	SC READY English Language Arts 3rd Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 4th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 5th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 6th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 7th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 8th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 3rd Grade	SC READY Mathematics 4th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 5th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 6th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 7th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 8th Grade	SC READY Science 4th Grade	SC READY Science 6th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel Spending from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel Spending from Federal Funds	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Personnel Spending from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Sub-total Spending from State and Local Funds
Brookdale Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	394 Brookdale Drive	Orangeburg	29115	Orangeburg County	Orangeburg	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 534-5982	215	16	13.2		6 (2.8%)	185 (86.0%)	18 (8.4%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.9%)	21.6	518^th of 640 public elementary schools	19.1%		34.3	418^th of 638 public elementary schools	34.5%	100	37.5	44.2	42.4				50.0	26.5	45.5				26.4		$17,461	$1,557	$1,271	$2,827	$12,681	$1,953	$14,634
Whittaker Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	790 Whittaker Parkway	Orangeburg	29115	Orangeburg County	Orangeburg	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 534-6559	325	21	15.4		7 (2.2%)	289 (88.9%)	22 (6.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.8%)	21.1	523^rd of 640 public elementary schools	18.3%		25.7	478^th of 638 public elementary schools	25.1%	45	21.8	37.0	45.8				47.8	19.6	48.0				32.6		$14,485	$1,758	$1,059	$2,816	$9,720	$1,948	$11,668
Felton Laboratory Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	115 Lance Street	Orangeburg	29117	Orangeburg County	School Public Charter School District	Yes	No	No	Yes	(803) 536-7034	279	13	20.8		2 (0.7%)	238 (85.3%)	9 (3.2%)	15 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (5.4%)	31.3	439^th of 640 public elementary schools	31.4%		33.2	427^th of 638 public elementary schools	33.1%	12	76.2	41.7	69.6	50.0	73.3	53.6	28.5	19.5	39.1	20.6	16.7	31.8	33.3	41.2	$14,208	$1,309	$1,231	$2,540	$8,179	$3,489	$11,668
Marshall Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1441 Marshall Street	Orangeburg	29118	Orangeburg County	Orangeburg	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 534-7865	625	39	16.1		13 (2.1%)	557 (89.1%)	21 (3.4%)	15 (2.4%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	15 (2.4%)	15.2	564^th of 640 public elementary schools	11.9%		9.8	605^th of 638 public elementary schools	5.2%	41	46.0	40.4	44.0				41.8	24.5	24.2				26.6		$13,038	$1,084	$1,111	$2,195	$9,302	$1,541	$10,843
Sheridan Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1139 Hillsboro Road	Orangeburg	29115	Orangeburg County	Orangeburg	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 534-7504	450	32	13.8		11 (2.4%)	380 (84.4%)	35 (7.8%)	3 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.9%)	16 (3.6%)	11.2	592^nd of 640 public elementary schools	7.5%		10	600^th of 638 public elementary schools	6.0%	8	33.9	27.6	31.9				33.9	44.9	20.3				22.4		$14,393	$1,569	$1,337	$2,906	$9,878	$1,609	$11,487
Mellichamp Elementary	Public	3-5	350 Murray Road	Orangeburg	29115	Orangeburg County	Orangeburg	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 534-8044	144	14	10.0		9 (6.3%)	123 (85.4%)	9 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.4%)	5.1	632^nd of 640 public elementary schools	1.3%		5.4	630^th of 638 public elementary schools	1.3%	2	29.2	20.0	33.9				29.3	16.0	23.7				10.0		$25,614	$4,008	$1,991	$5,999	$16,849	$2,766	$19,615
Willie Jeffries School of Excellence	Public, Charter	K-6	3000 Five Chop Road	Orangeburg	29115	Orangeburg County	Charter Institute at Erskine	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(803) 250-5717	274	25	11.1		15 (5.5%)	243 (88.7%)	4 (1.5%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	9 (3.3%)								(n/a)
Edisto Primary	Public	PK, KG-2	3239 Cordova Road	Cordova	29039	Orangeburg County	Orangeburg	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 536-4782	635	42	15.0		214 (33.7%)	328 (51.7%)	52 (8.2%)	5 (0.8%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (5.2%)								(n/a)															$14,114	$1,221	$1,184	$2,405	$10,004	$1,705	$11,709
Edisto Elementary	Public	3-5	136 Woodolive Lane	Orangeburg	29515	Orangeburg County	Orangeburg	No	No	No	No	(803) 531-7646	419	27	15.2		162 (38.7%)	196 (46.8%)	24 (5.7%)	6 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (7.4%)	17.8	542^nd of 640 public elementary schools	15.3%		20.5	517^th of 638 public elementary schools	19.0%	25	38.2	39.5	50.4				30.4	29.0	44.8				27.6		$14,392	$1,769	$1,435	$3,204	$9,579	$1,610	$11,189
Bethune-Bowman Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	4857 Charleston Highway	Rowesville	29133	Orangeburg County	Orangeburg	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 533-6371	259	19	14.0		2 (0.8%)	220 (84.9%)	31 (12.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.3%)	9.8	602^nd of 640 public elementary schools	5.9%		11.2	585^th of 638 public elementary schools	8.3%	17	35.1	36.1	36.4				35.1	30.6	20.5				25.0		$15,024	$1,262	$1,102	$2,363	$10,874	$1,787	$12,661

Frequently Asked Questions about Brookdale Elementary

Is Brookdale Elementary a good school?

Brookdale Elementary ranks in the bottom 19.1% of South Carolina elementary schools.

How many students attend Brookdale Elementary?

In the 2024-25 school year, 215 students attended Brookdale Elementary.

What schools do graduates of Brookdale Elementary attend?

Students who attend Brookdale Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Robert E. Howard Middle
High : Orangeburg Wilkinson High

What district is Brookdale Elementary in?

Orangeburg

What is the racial makeup of Brookdale Elementary?

Students at Brookdale Elementary are 86% African American, 8% Hispanic, 3% White, 2% Two or more races.

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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the South Carolina Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.