Summary:
Zip code 29527 in Conway, SC, is served by three schools within the highly-rated Horry 01 district, which holds a 4-star rating and ranks in the 88th percentile statewide, offering education from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade with no high school options in the immediate area.
For families considering this area, Whittemore Park Middle is the sole middle school and the largest campus with about 1,013 students. It shows a strong upward trajectory, improving from the 44th to 54th percentile in recent years, and boasts exceptional Algebra 1 proficiency at 98.34%—far exceeding state averages. However, its general math scores in grades 6-8 lag significantly behind state benchmarks, with 7th grade math proficiency at just 30.4%. The school also struggles with chronic absenteeism at 24.8%, above the state average. Meanwhile, Pee Dee Elementary serves 927 students in PK-5 and offers consistent, stable performance with a 3-star rating. Its 3rd grade ELA (64.9%) and math (58.5%) proficiency both meet or exceed state averages, and its chronic absenteeism rate of 16.0% is notably healthier than the middle school's. The smallest option, Academy of Hope Charter, enrolls just 100 students in PK-8 and stands out for its excellent 8.3:1 student-teacher ratio and lowest chronic absenteeism at 11.9%, though it lacks recent test score data, making academic comparisons difficult.
A key takeaway is the pronounced math achievement gap at the middle school level, where ELA proficiency (56.8-62.6%) runs 20-28 points higher than math (30.4-41.8%). Encouragingly, 8th graders at Whittemore Park showed dramatic year-over-year gains in both subjects, jumping nearly 12-13 points. The transition from Pee Dee Elementary's 5th grade math (47.4%) to Whittemore Park's 6th grade math (33.3%) reveals a steep 14-point drop, suggesting a need for better curriculum alignment. While per-student spending varies from $13,712 to $15,327, higher spending doesn't correlate with better outcomes, and the district's overall strength provides a solid foundation for these schools.
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