Summary:
Zip code 29605 in Greenville, SC is home to four elementary schools serving grades PK-5 (with one serving K-5) within the Greenville 01 school district, which ranks in the top 15% of districts statewide. These schools—Robert E. Cashion Elementary, Blythe Academy, Augusta Circle Elementary, and Thomas E. Kerns Elementary—serve a combined enrollment of nearly 3,000 students and represent a dramatic range of academic outcomes.
Augusta Circle Elementary is the clear standout, ranking #2 out of 649 schools in South Carolina with a 5-star rating and test scores above 87% proficiency in every subject. Its chronic absenteeism rate is just 2.6%, compared to 21% at Robert E. Cashion Elementary and 23% at Thomas E. Kerns Elementary. Blythe Academy sits comfortably in the middle with a 4-star rating and 6.5% absenteeism. Interestingly, Thomas E. Kerns Elementary spends the most per student ($15,816) yet has the lowest academic performance, while Augusta Circle spends near the least ($12,056) and achieves the best results—suggesting that attendance and family engagement matter more than funding alone.
For parents, the key takeaway is that school choice within this zip code dramatically impacts educational experience. Augusta Circle offers elite academics with near-perfect attendance, while Thomas E. Kerns shows promising improvement—its 3rd-grade math proficiency jumped from 37.4% to 64.1% in one year—though it still ranks in the bottom third statewide. Cashion and Blythe offer middle-tier options, with Blythe being the more consistent performer. Both struggling schools show declining test scores as students advance from 3rd to 5th grade, indicating widening learning gaps. Student-teacher ratios show no clear relationship to outcomes, with the lowest ratio (14.7:1 at Kerns) coinciding with the weakest results.
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