The top reported proficiency rate is 60% in Social studies. The lowest is 34% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Mcdonald Elementary
McDonald Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school in Georgetown, South Carolina, part of the Georgetown 01 district. The school sits in a small historic port city that is the county seat of Georgetown County, a place whose economy has long depended on the port, steel manufacturing, and paper production. In recent years heritage tourism and retiree settlement have grown, but the city has experienced a population decline and faces a significant economic challenge with the announced closure of a major industrial plant. Georgetown’s downtown features a historic district and a waterfront boardwalk, and the school is integrated into the community rather than isolated on a remote campus.
The enrollment is moderate for an elementary school serving this grade span. Every student qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which places this school in a high-poverty context. The student body is majority Black, with a substantial White population and a smaller Hispanic share; Asian and multiracial students make up the remainder. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the source materials, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those supports.
State testing results for the 2024-25 school year show a mixed picture across subjects and grades. In English language arts, the school’s overall proficiency rate lands around the midpoint. Third and fourth graders performed above that average, while fifth graders fell below it. In math, the overall rate is lower, with a sharp drop in fifth grade where fewer than one in five students scored proficient. A parent considering this school should look into why the upper elementary math results are soft; it may be a grade-level pattern worth discussing with the school. Science testing, available only for fourth grade, shows about a third of students proficient. Social studies data is from 2018-19 and used an older assessment with different cut scores, so it is not directly comparable and should be treated as a historical reference only. Because this is an elementary school, there is no graduation rate, and the state does not report chronic absenteeism or discipline data for this school in the available records.
The housing market in the Georgetown area is reasonably affordable relative to national benchmarks, with home values a bit below the state average and rental rates that are modest. The school itself has no charter or magnet designation. The district has recently transitioned one of its other elementary schools to a Digital Immersion School, which may signal a district-level interest in technology integration, but no specific program information for McDonald Elementary was found.
For a parent or resident, McDonald Elementary is a neighborhood school serving a community that faces economic pressures. The student body is economically disadvantaged, and the school reflects that reality. Academically, reading proficiency is a relative strength in the early grades, but math proficiency, particularly by fifth grade, is an area where the school is struggling. A family moving into Georgetown with children in upper elementary may want to investigate what interventions or support the school offers for math, and what the path to middle school looks like. The setting is a small, walkable historic city with a mix of residential and commercial districts, and the school is a regular part of that fabric. The absence of data on discipline, staffing ratios, and special programs means some of the usual factors a parent weighs are not visible from this report alone; visiting the school and speaking with staff would fill in those gaps.
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