Best Public Schools in Zip Code 29686

Summary:

The 29686 zip code is home to a single elementary school, Tamassee-Salem Elementary, which serves grades PK-5 with a total enrollment of 201 students. The school is part of the Oconee 01 school district, which is ranked 21 out of 75 districts in South Carolina and has a 4-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Tamassee-Salem Elementary's academic performance is mixed, with some areas of strength and some areas of weakness compared to district and state averages. In 2024-2025, the school's 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade students performed below the district and state averages in both English Language Arts and Mathematics. However, in 2023-2024, the school's 4th and 5th-grade students performed better than the district and state averages in Mathematics. The school's 4th-grade Science proficiency rate in 2024-2025 was also lower than the district and state averages.

The school faces some significant challenges, including a high chronic absenteeism rate of 22.5% in 2023-2024 and a high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch at 75.12% in 2023-2024. Despite these challenges, the school has access to significant resources, with a relatively low student-teacher ratio of 9.5 and a per-student spending of $16,078 for the 2023-2024 school year. Addressing the root causes of absenteeism and optimizing the use of these resources could be key to improving the school's overall performance and better serving its students and community.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				SC READY English Language Arts (2025)			SC READY Mathematics (2025)			SC READY Science (2025)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	SC READY English Language Arts 3rd Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 4th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 5th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 3rd Grade	SC READY Mathematics 4th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 5th Grade	SC READY Science 4th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel Spending from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel Spending from Federal Funds	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Personnel Spending from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Sub-total Spending from State and Local Funds
Tamassee-Salem Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	9950 North Highway 11	Tamassee	29686	Oconee County	Oconee 01	No	No	No	No	(864) 886-4540	204	18	11.2		176 (86.3%)	3 (1.5%)	16 (7.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (4.4%)	48	319^th of 640 public elementary schools	50.2%		63.5	223^rd of 638 public elementary schools	65.0%	96	57.7	48.6	64.7	50.0	51.4	55.9	42.9	$19,609	$1,339	$349	$1,688	$15,560	$2,361	$17,921

Cities Near Zip Code 29686

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Tamassee	2.38 mi	1	95^th
Walhalla	6.87 mi	3	92^nd
Seneca	7.98 mi	6	75^th
West Union	9.1 mi	1	30^th
Six Mile	11.07 mi	1	44^th

See the top SC South Carolina cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the South Carolina Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.