Mt. Zion Elementary, Johns Island SC

Original Research by School Decision on Mt. Zion Elementary

Mt. Zion Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade on Johns Island, a large sea island that blends farmland, tidal creeks, and fast-growing subdivisions. The school is part of the Charleston 01 district, the public system covering much of the metro area, and operates as a regular elementary school. Johns Island itself has no conventional downtown; its low-density road network and scattered civic sites mean car travel is the norm, and the island’s population has been rising rapidly as development spreads across its rural core.

State testing results from the most recent year are available for math, English language arts, and science across grades three through five, though cut-score changes in ELA and science make direct year-to-year comparisons uncertain. In math, the share of students meeting proficiency varied notably by grade: third and fourth graders performed at a moderate level, while fifth graders produced a result that stands out as a clear strength of the school. ELA results follow a similar pattern, with third and fifth graders reaching a moderate proficiency rate and fourth graders landing lower. In science, tested only in fourth grade, proficiency was the weakest of all reported areas. No high school testing applies because the school stops at fifth grade, and no graduation rate is reported since it does not serve those grades. Social studies data is available only from several years ago on an earlier assessment, so it offers no current read.

Every student at Mt. Zion Elementary qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, indicating a school community with high economic need. The student body is diverse, with Hispanic students making up the largest share, followed closely by White and Black students, and a smaller group identifying as two or more races. Information on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the data provided.

The housing market on Johns Island reflects the broader pressure on the Charleston area. Home values and rents are high relative to state and national benchmarks, and the cost of buying a home there sits well above typical household income levels in the region, a dynamic that has intensified as new subdivisions fill in previously agricultural land. For a family considering this school, the island’s commuting patterns, the lack of pedestrian-friendly commercial centers, and the ongoing tension between conservation and development are all part of the context that shapes daily life here. The district itself has no major recent parent-relevant changes reported.

Taken together, Mt. Zion Elementary is a school where a fifth grader is likely to encounter strong math instruction, but where other grades and subjects show more variation. A parent may want to ask the school directly about supports for science and for ELA in fourth grade, and about how the school tailors instruction for a student body that is almost entirely from low-income households. This is not a school that offers the program breadth of a larger elementary school, but for a family whose top priorities include a diverse, high-need setting on an island undergoing rapid change, it fits a specific niche in the Charleston County landscape.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 352%

School 52% · District 63% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 60% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 579%

School 79% · District 57% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 348%

School 48% · District 65% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 66% · ▼ 29 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 67% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Science

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 54% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 573%

School 73% · District 68% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 9 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.