Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 29160

Zip code 29160 in Swansea, South Carolina, is served by three elementary schools—Sandy Run School, Sandhills Primary, and Sandhills Elementary—which together educate roughly 1,559 students across two districts, Calhoun 01 and Lexington 04.

For parents, the standout school academically is Sandy Run School, which serves grades PK-8 and posts the strongest scores in the area, particularly in 7th grade where math proficiency (43.2%) exceeds both its district and the state average, and ELA (52.3%) beats its district. However, Sandy Run also shows dramatic weaknesses, including a 4th grade math proficiency of just 19.6%—a staggering 32.7 points below the state—and a sharp 5th grade ELA slump (37.1% vs. 54.9% in 4th grade). Sandhills Elementary (grades 3-4) is more consistent, with 3rd and 4th grade scores clustering closely, but its proficiency rates (42.6% and 45.6% in ELA) still trail state averages by roughly 20 points. Sandhills Primary (grades 1-2) has no recent test data, making its academic performance a mystery, though its chronic absenteeism rate of 30.9% is the highest in the zip code.

Across all three schools, chronic absenteeism is a systemic crisis, ranging from 27.6% to 30.9%—well above the state's 22.3%—and likely fueling the low proficiency rates. Sandy Run spends significantly more per student ($16,927 vs. roughly $13,500 at the Sandhills schools) and has a better student-teacher ratio (12.5:1), yet still ranks in the 16th percentile statewide, down from 24th last year. Sandhills Elementary fell even further, from the 28th to the 12th percentile. Science scores are especially weak at Sandy Run (23.5% in 4th grade vs. 51.6% statewide). The split-campus model at Sandhills creates a data gap for grades 1-2, making cohort tracking impossible. Overall, these schools face deep challenges that additional funding alone hasn't solved, suggesting parents should expect below-average performance and consider how absenteeism and grade-level transitions might affect their child's experience.