The top reported proficiency rate is 40% in Math. The lowest is 39% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Stewart Heights Elementary
Stewart Heights Elementary serves children from pre-kindergarten through third grade in Dillon, a small county-seat town in the Pee Dee region of northeastern South Carolina. The school is part of Dillon School District Four and operates as a regular public school. Because it covers only the earliest grades, there is no high school graduation rate to report, and state testing is limited to the one tested grade in this building: third grade.
On the state's SC Ready assessments, just under two-fifths of third graders met the proficiency threshold in math, and slightly fewer did so in reading. The school's combined proficiency across those two subjects places it above the midpoint among schools in Dillon County's districts. That is a relative position within a small set of county peers, not a comparison to statewide averages. A parent looking at the raw outcomes will see that the majority of tested students scored below the proficient level, something worth discussing directly with the school to understand what support and interventions are in place for early literacy and numeracy.
Every student at Stewart Heights qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a marker of the high level of economic need in the attendance area. The student body is predominantly Black, with smaller shares of White students and students identifying as two or more races, and a handful of American Indian and Hispanic students. Data on students with individualized education programs (IEPs) and English learners was not reported in the available records, so families with children who may need those services should ask the school for details on staffing and programs.
The town of Dillon itself has a compact, car-oriented layout centered on a historic downtown. Housing in the area is notably affordable compared to state and national benchmarks, though home values have been declining recently. The local economy has a foundation in agriculture and timber, with manufacturing and distribution centers growing along the Interstate 95 corridor, and a recently constructed inland port that links the region to the Port of Charleston. Despite these economic developments, Dillon's population is estimated to be shrinking. No recent district-wide changes of lasting significance were publicly reported for Dillon 04, so the school's operations appear to be running under long-established patterns.
For a family considering Stewart Heights, the key factors are its role as an early-elementary feeder school in a high-poverty district, a setting where most children arrive needing strong foundational support. The academic results suggest room for growth in third-grade proficiency, and the school's standing within its own county offers a modest point of reference rather than a guarantee of high outcomes. The absence of information on special education and English learner services is a gap a parent would want to investigate directly. The housing market is inexpensive, which may matter for families moving to the area, but the broader context of a small, declining town means the school is not situated in a high-growth community with expanding resources. Stewart Heights is what it is: a neighborhood elementary school serving the youngest students in a rural county-seat district where most families face significant economic challenges.
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