Summary:
Zip code 29512 in Bennettsville, South Carolina, is served by two public elementary schools within the Marlboro 01 school district, which together form a two-stage pipeline for students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.
Bennettsville Primary is the larger of the two schools, enrolling 552 students in grades PK-3, while Bennettsville Intermediate serves just 244 students in grades 4-5. The Intermediate school stands out for its greater resource investment, spending $13,722 per student compared to $12,604 at the Primary school, and it also enjoys a more favorable student-teacher ratio of 10.8 to 1 versus 13.3 to 1 at the Primary school. Despite these additional resources, the Intermediate school's overall test scores are not dramatically better, with 4th-grade ELA at 38.5% proficiency and math at just 21.7%, while the Primary school posts 32.3% proficiency in 3rd-grade ELA and 27.3% in math. The one notable bright spot is 4th-grade science at the Intermediate school, where proficiency jumped from 18.5% to 35% in a single year, far exceeding the district average of 32.3% and approaching the state average of 51.6%.
Both schools face significant challenges, most notably a chronic absenteeism crisis affecting more than one in three students—34.6% at the Primary school and 35.4% at the Intermediate school, both well above the state average of 22.3%. Additionally, 3rd-grade ELA scores at the Primary school dropped sharply from 44.1% to 32.3% year-over-year, a concerning trend for early literacy. The district itself is ranked 71st out of 75 in South Carolina, placing it in the bottom 5% statewide. For parents, this means the schools are operating under difficult conditions, but the science improvement at the Intermediate school suggests targeted interventions can yield results, and the smaller class sizes there may offer more individualized attention for older elementary students.
Thank you for your feedback!