Summary:
Zip code 29649 in Greenwood, South Carolina, is home to five elementary schools serving grades PK-5 (with one extending to 8th grade) and a combined student population of roughly 2,334, offering families a mix of traditional district schools and a charter option. The four Greenwood 50 schools—Merrywood, Eleanor S. Rice, Lakeview, and Pinecrest—generally outperform the state average, while Greenwood Charter Academy, under the Charter Institute at Erskine, lags significantly behind.
Merrywood Elementary is the clear academic leader, ranking in the 81st percentile statewide with a 4-star rating and posting exceptional 3rd-grade math (84.3%) and ELA (85.7%) proficiency rates—roughly 20-25 points above state averages. Pinecrest Elementary is a consistent 4-star performer (70th percentile) with the most favorable student-teacher ratio (9.4:1) and the highest per-student spending ($18,423), though it trails Merrywood academically. Lakeview Elementary has shown improvement, jumping from the 50th to 64th percentile over two years, while Eleanor S. Rice Elementary sits near the middle (53rd percentile). Greenwood Charter Academy is the outlier, ranking in the 22nd percentile with a 1-star rating and math proficiency rates below 25% in 3rd and 4th grades.
Chronic absenteeism is a district-wide concern—all five schools exceed the state average of 22.3%, with Greenwood Charter Academy's rate of 34.4% being especially troubling. Mathematics is the greatest differentiator among schools, with Merrywood's 3rd-grade proficiency (84.3%) more than triple the charter school's rate (24.1%). Notably, higher spending doesn't guarantee better results: Pinecrest spends the most per student yet trails Merrywood, which spends $1,622 less. For parents, Merrywood and Pinecrest offer the strongest academic outcomes, while the charter school's performance and attendance challenges warrant careful consideration.
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