St. Matthews K-8 School, St. Matthews SC

Original Research by School Decision on St. Matthews K-8 School

St. Matthews K-8 School sits in St. Matthews, a small rural town that serves as the county seat of Calhoun County. The school is a regular public school covering pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, and it is the only K-8 school in the town itself, part of the Calhoun County School District, which also runs another K-8 school in Sandy Run and a high school. The enrollment is modest for a school serving this grade span, with students drawn from the local area.

The student body is predominantly Black, with a smaller share of white students and a notable Hispanic presence. Every student at the school qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a clear signal of the high poverty level in the community. This context matters when considering the academic results the school reports.

On the most recent state assessments, reading and English language arts results show a mixed picture. In most tested grades, roughly half of students met the state’s proficiency benchmark, with third grade posting the highest share and fourth grade the lowest. That pattern suggests a relative strength in literacy, though performance is not uniform across grade levels.

Math results are weaker across the board. The share of students scoring proficient on the state math assessment is well below half in every grade, and in the upper elementary and middle school grades, the rates drop sharply. The lowest figures appear in seventh and eighth grade, where only a small fraction of students reached the proficiency level. This is a soft spot that a parent may want to look into further with the school, especially as students transition into more advanced math topics.

Science results, available for fourth and sixth grade, show a similar pattern to math, with fewer than a third of students meeting the state’s bar. Social studies data comes from an older assessment from several years ago and used different scoring criteria, so it is not directly comparable to the current tests and is best set aside for trend purposes. The school has only one year of recent testing data, so there is no basis for saying whether performance is improving or declining.

The school itself offers no information on course access, programs, or extracurricular offerings in the available data, so a family interested in specific electives or activities would need to ask the school directly.

St. Matthews itself is a small, rural county seat with a historic downtown centered on the courthouse. The town has experienced a gradual population decline over recent decades, and median household income is modest, with a significant portion of residents living below the poverty line. Home values in the area are lower than typical levels across South Carolina and the nation. The district has not reported any recent major changes such as bond measures or curriculum shifts that would affect this school.

For a family considering this school, the picture is one of a small, high-poverty rural school where literacy outcomes are a relative bright spot but math achievement is a clear area of concern. The community is stable but not growing, and the housing market is affordable by state and national standards. Without more detail on class sizes, staffing, or enrichment opportunities, a parent should seek a direct conversation with the school to round out the picture.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 337%

School 37% · District 34% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 15 pts below state median

Grade 433%

School 33% · District 29% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 17 pts below state median

Grade 517%

School 17% · District 22% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 39% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 78%

School 8% · District 18% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median

Grade 819%

School 19% · District 19%

▼ 7 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 358%

School 58% · District 55% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 46% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 45% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 12 pts below state median

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 50%

▼ 3 pts below state median

Grade 752%

School 52% · District 49% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 4 pts below state median

Grade 853%

School 53% · District 51% · ▲ 3 pts above district

even with state median

Science

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 35% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median

Grade 631%

School 31% · District 28% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 13 pts below state median

Social studies

Grade 568%

School 68% · District 63% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 4 pts below state median

Grade 750%

School 50% · District 47% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 14 pts below state median

This schoolCalhoun 01, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.