Buist Academy, Charleston SC - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Buist Academy

Buist Academy is a public school in downtown Charleston that serves grades three through eight. It operates under the Charleston 01 school district. The data we have shows a school with exceptional academic performance, and the narrative below is drawn entirely from that information.

The academy’s state assessment results place it among the highest-performing schools in South Carolina. In both English language arts and math, nearly every student scored at or above the proficient level on the SC Ready assessments across grades three through eight. In several grade-level and subject combinations, every single tested student met the proficiency bar. The lowest proficiency rate in any tested subject and grade was in eighth-grade math, where a large majority of students still scored proficient. Science results were similarly near-perfect. These are strengths by any measure.

The student body, encompassing roughly a few hundred students in grades three through eight, is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Black, Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students. About a fifth of the student population qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that is well below many other schools in the county. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the data we received.

The school sits in the city of Charleston, a historic coastal city whose economy draws from tourism, the port, aerospace, and a growing tech sector. The city has well-preserved architecture and a pedestrian-scaled downtown peninsula. Housing costs are very high in much of Charleston, and this is consistent with the zip code area where Buist Academy is located, where home values and rents are well above national and state benchmarks.

Buist Academy is a regular public school. It is not a charter school. The data does not indicate whether it operates as a magnet or receives Title I funding. Because the school serves only grades three through eight, there is no graduation rate to report. The school’s district, Charleston 01, was also examined for recent parent-relevant news, but publicly reported items that met the researchers’ criteria were not found.

For a family looking at this school, the academic picture is clear and strong. The proficiency rates across all subjects and grades are consistently at the top of what any school in the state reports. A parent whose priority is a highly rigorous, high-attainment academic environment for a middle-grade student will see alignment here. Students at Buist are working at levels where almost all peers are meeting the state’s standard for proficiency in math, reading, and science.

The school’s size and grade configuration mean that students will spend several years in the same building, which can provide continuity. The downtown location places the school in a dense urban setting, but the broader city includes suburban areas where families may live.

The data do not include information on the school’s approach to instruction, any specific academic programs or extracurricular offerings, or the school’s discipline rates. Families with a child who has an individualized education program or who is an English learner will need to ask the school directly about its services, as the data we received was incomplete on those counts. Similarly, information about the school’s staffing, including teacher experience and class sizes, was not included in the data available for this narrative.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 399%

School 99% · District 63% · ▲ 36 pts above district

▲ 46 pts above state median · ▲ 44 pts above county median

Grade 499%

School 99% · District 60% · ▲ 39 pts above district

▲ 48 pts above state median · ▲ 51 pts above county median

Grade 599%

School 99% · District 57% · ▲ 42 pts above district

▲ 54 pts above state median · ▲ 58 pts above county median

Grade 695%

School 95% · District 49% · ▲ 46 pts above district

▲ 61 pts above state median · ▲ 62 pts above county median

Grade 794%

School 94% · District 49% · ▲ 45 pts above district

▲ 66 pts above state median · ▲ 67 pts above county median

Grade 881%

School 81% · District 45% · ▲ 37 pts above district

▲ 55 pts above state median · ▲ 49 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 3100%

School 100% · District 65% · ▲ 36 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Grade 4100%

School 100% · District 66% · ▲ 34 pts above district

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Grade 599%

School 99% · District 67% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

Grade 6100%

School 100% · District 63% · ▲ 37 pts above district

▲ 47 pts above state median · ▲ 41 pts above county median

Grade 798%

School 98% · District 65% · ▲ 33 pts above district

▲ 42 pts above state median · ▲ 41 pts above county median

Grade 898%

School 98% · District 64% · ▲ 34 pts above district

▲ 45 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Science

Grade 4100%

School 100% · District 54% · ▲ 46 pts above district

▲ 55 pts above state median · ▲ 56 pts above county median

Grade 699%

School 99% · District 55% · ▲ 44 pts above district

▲ 55 pts above state median · ▲ 52 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 5100%

School 100% · District 68% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 798%

School 98% · District 68% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

This schoolCharleston 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income100%Higher-income100%0 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income91%Higher-income100%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income100%Higher-income97%3 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income85%Higher-income98%13 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income96%Higher-income93%3 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income71%Higher-income85%14 pp gap