Best Public Schools in Zip Code 29135

Zip code 29135 in Saint Matthews, South Carolina, is served by two public schools within the Calhoun 01 school district, which currently holds a 1-star rating and ranks 66th out of 75 districts statewide. The area’s 906 students are split between St. Matthews K-8 School (509 students, grades PK-8) and Calhoun County High (397 students, grades 9-12).

For parents, the standout is Calhoun County High, which posts a graduation rate of 88.1% (above the state’s 86.7%), a zero dropout rate, and chronic absenteeism at 19.7%—better than both the district and state averages. Its English 2 proficiency (87.36%) actually edges out the state, and Algebra 1 proficiency (70.34%) is close to the state mark. However, the school’s ranking has slipped for three straight years (from 156th to 182nd), and its English 1 proficiency is just 37.29%, a 50-point swing from English 2 that suggests inconsistent performance across courses. Meanwhile, St. Matthews K-8 School struggles broadly, with most grade-level scores in ELA and math running 10 to 30 points below state averages. The most alarming trend is a “middle school slide” in math: proficiency drops from 36.9% in 3rd grade to just 18.4% in 6th grade, a 50% decline. The one bright spot is 4th-grade math at 44.4%, which beats the district by 11.1 points.

Both schools spend heavily—$18,017 and $19,860 per student—yet rank in the bottom quartile statewide, raising questions about resource effectiveness. Chronic absenteeism at St. Matthews K-8 (23.1%) exceeds the state average and likely fuels the academic gaps. Year-to-year volatility (e.g., 5th-grade math jumping 15.4 points, 7th-grade math improving 14.6 points) points to small cohorts where individual students can shift metrics dramatically. The district’s scores mirror the schools’ scores almost exactly, meaning these two campuses are the entire system. While Calhoun County High deserves credit for keeping students through graduation, the overall picture is one of systemic challenges that spending alone hasn’t solved.