Summary:
Zip code 29673 (Piedmont, SC) is home to two middle schools serving grades 6-8—Wren Middle and Woodmont Middle—which together educate roughly 1,800 students in a community split between two different school districts.
For parents, the most striking finding is the significant academic gap between these two nearby schools. Wren Middle is a clear standout, ranking 42nd out of 335 schools statewide (87th percentile) with a 4-star rating, and it outperforms state averages in every subject and grade level. For example, 8th-grade math proficiency at Wren is 69.6% versus the state average of 44.2%, and 6th-grade ELA is 71.1% versus 56.3%. In contrast, Woodmont Middle ranks 195th (42nd percentile) with a 2-star rating, and its math proficiency rates (33.7-35.6%) fall well below state averages (40.9-44.2%) across all grades. Woodmont also struggles with chronic absenteeism at 32.3%—nearly double Wren's 16.9%—which strongly correlates with its lower achievement. Interestingly, Woodmont spends $1,173 more per student ($11,786 vs. $10,613) yet achieves far weaker results, suggesting that factors like school culture and attendance matter more than raw funding.
Both schools sit within highly-rated districts—Anderson 01 is ranked 3rd in the state and Greenville 01 is ranked 11th—but Woodmont is a clear outlier within its otherwise strong district. One bright spot for Woodmont is its 100% proficiency on the Algebra 1 EOCEP exam, far above state (74.0%) and district (85.6%) averages, though this may indicate that only a small, highly-prepared group of students is being placed into advanced math. For families in this zip code, the choice between these two schools is stark: Wren offers consistent, above-average performance across the board, while Woodmont faces systemic challenges in math and attendance that will require targeted interventions to close the gap.
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