Summary:
Zip code 29686 is home to just one school, Tamassee-Salem Elementary, a small public school in the town of Tamassee, SC, serving grades PK through 5 with 204 students.
For parents in this area, Tamassee-Salem Elementary is a strong choice with a 4-star rating and a state ranking of 172nd out of 649 elementary schools (73rd percentile). The school shows a clear pattern of academic strength in 4th grade, where students significantly outperform district and state averages in ELA, Math, and especially Science (75% proficient, over 23 points above the state). The school also boasts an excellent student-teacher ratio of 11.2, which likely supports individualized attention, and a chronic absenteeism rate of 15.9%—far better than the district (23.2%) and state (22.3%) averages. Per-student spending is high at $19,609, reflecting the costs of running a small rural school.
However, there are areas of concern. The most notable weakness is 5th-grade math, where only 46.9% of students are proficient, falling below both the district (52.5%) and state (49.1%) averages. This is the only metric where the school lags significantly behind. Additionally, performance can be volatile year-to-year—a common issue in small schools where a single cohort can skew results. For example, 3rd-grade ELA jumped from 57.7% to 77.5% in one year, while 4th-grade Science swung from 42.9% to 75%. The school's state ranking has also fluctuated, dipping to the 50th percentile in 2024-2025 before rebounding strongly. Overall, Tamassee-Salem Elementary offers a supportive, well-funded environment with strong early-grade performance, but parents should be aware of the 5th-grade math gap and the potential for year-over-year swings in test scores.
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