Duncan Chapel Elementary, Greenville SC

Original Research by School Decision on Duncan Chapel Elementary

Duncan Chapel Elementary serves students in prekindergarten through fifth grade and sits within Greenville County Schools, the largest school district in South Carolina. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. It is located in the city of Greenville, a fast-growing area that has shifted from its industrial textile past toward advanced manufacturing, automotive production, and a strong health care sector. Greenville’s downtown is notably walkable, anchored by Falls Park on the Reedy and the Swamp Rabbit Trail, and the city has experienced rapid population and economic growth in recent years.

The student body at Duncan Chapel is diverse. The largest group of students is Hispanic, followed by White students and Black students, with smaller shares of students who are Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or of two or more races. Every student at the school qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which means the entire enrollment comes from low-income households. This is an important context for understanding the school’s academic results, since concentrated poverty is a well-documented challenge for schools across the country.

On the most recent state assessments in English language arts, Duncan Chapel’s proficiency rates were near half. In third grade, about half of students scored proficient or above. In fourth grade, just under half were proficient. In fifth grade, the rate was close to the third-grade level. These scores are fairly consistent across the tested elementary grades, which suggests a stable level of performance rather than a sharp drop-off between years. In math, the pattern showed a slight decline by grade. Third-grade mathematics proficiency was above half, fourth grade was a bit lower, and fifth grade was lower still. In fourth-grade science, the share of students reaching proficiency was just over two-fifths. Taken together, these results paint a picture of a school where a majority of students are not yet meeting state benchmarks. A parent may want to ask the school how it supports students who are below grade level and what interventions or programs are in place to raise achievement.

Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and the school’s grade band also means that measures such as chronic absenteeism were not available in this data. No disciplinary or staffing data were provided, so it is not possible to speak to school climate or class sizes from the information at hand.

There was no comparison group of similar schools within the county that could produce a proficiency index ranking, so it is not possible to say how Duncan Chapel stacks up against its peers in Greenville County. Publicly reported information about recent district-level changes or strategies was also thin, so there is no immediate context about new initiatives or shifts in policy from the district office that might be affecting the school.

For a family considering this school, the peer environment is one of high economic need. Every student qualifies for meal assistance, and the student body is ethnically and racially mixed. The school is part of Greenville County Schools, a large district in a region that is growing quickly, with rising housing costs and a strong local economy. The academic results suggest that while some students are meeting state standards, a significant share are not, and that gap is worth exploring directly with school staff. The school’s size, with enrollment in the upper hundreds, is typical for an elementary school in this part of South Carolina. Families who value a diverse, high-needs setting and who want a neighborhood school inside a growing metropolitan area will find Duncan Chapel fits that profile. Those seeking higher measured academic outcomes may want to look into what additional academic supports or enrichment the school offers.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 66% · ▼ 14 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 446%

School 46% · District 65% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 60% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 71% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 71% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 549%

School 49% · District 70% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Science

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 63% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 575%

School 75% · District 80% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

This schoolGreenville 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 3Lower-income49%Higher-income48%1 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income46%Higher-income50%4 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income51%Higher-income59%8 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income45%Higher-income53%8 pp gap