Summary:
Zip code 29655 in Iva, South Carolina, is served by a single elementary school, Iva Elementary, which educates students in grades PK through 5 and is part of the highly-rated Anderson 03 school district.
For parents, Iva Elementary is a small, well-funded school with a favorable 12.3:1 student-to-teacher ratio and per-student spending of $14,778. Academically, the school generally outperforms state averages in English Language Arts and Mathematics, but it consistently trails its own district in nearly every subject. For example, 4th-grade ELA proficiency is strong at 77.1% (compared to 65.4% statewide), yet 4th-grade math proficiency is 57.4%, which is 11 points below the district's 68.4%. The school's state ranking has declined over three years, from the 79th percentile (2023-24) to the 64th percentile (2025-26), indicating a downward trend. Test scores also show significant year-to-year volatility, particularly in ELA, where 5th-grade proficiency dropped dramatically from 83.9% to 62.0% in one year. Chronic absenteeism is a concern at 23.9%, slightly above the state average of 22.3%.
The most notable weakness is 4th-grade science, where the school's 57.4% proficiency rate is 12.5 points behind the district's 69.9%—the largest gap of any subject. Math proficiency also declines as students advance, from 61.7% in 3rd grade to 56.2% in 5th grade, suggesting potential cumulative learning gaps. Given the school's strong resources and small class sizes, the performance gap relative to the district is puzzling and points to factors beyond funding, such as attendance or instructional consistency. Overall, Iva Elementary provides a solid educational foundation but would benefit from targeted interventions in upper-grade math, science, and attendance improvement to reverse its ranking slide.
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