Summary:
Zip code 29418 in North Charleston, South Carolina, is served by two elementary schools—W. B. Goodwin Elementary and Compass Collegiate Academy—which together cover grades Pre-K through 5th and enroll roughly 578 students across a traditional public school and a public charter school.
For parents comparing options, the most striking difference is the spending-versus-performance gap. W. B. Goodwin Elementary spends $24,639 per student—53% more than Compass Collegiate Academy’s $16,078—yet Compass outperforms it in nearly every academic category. In 2025-2026, Compass posted 4th grade ELA proficiency of 47.1% and 5th grade ELA of 60.0%, compared to Goodwin’s 25.8% and 41.9%, respectively. Compass also leads in 4th grade science (35.3% vs. 29.0%) and 4th grade math (26.4% vs. 17.7%). However, both schools trail state averages significantly, especially in math, where Goodwin’s 4th grade proficiency of just 17.7% means over 80% of students are not meeting grade-level expectations. State rankings reflect this: Goodwin sits at 614th of 649 schools (5th percentile) while Compass ranks 552nd (15th percentile).
Attendance and stability add nuance. Compass Collegiate Academy has a chronic absenteeism rate of 31.0%—more than double Goodwin’s 14.6% and well above the state’s 22.3%—yet still achieves stronger test scores, suggesting its engaged students are performing well despite systemic attendance challenges. Meanwhile, W. B. Goodwin Elementary shows dramatic year-over-year swings, with 3rd grade math nearly doubling from 22.0% to 41.8% while 4th grade ELA dropped 25%. Both schools have similar student-teacher ratios (about 13.3:1), and both are in districts that rank in the top half statewide—Charleston 01 at the 72nd percentile and School Public Charter School District at the 57th—yet both schools sit in the bottom 15% of all elementary schools, highlighting significant underperformance relative to their district peers.
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