The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in English language arts. The lowest is 19% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Dennis Elementary
Dennis Elementary is a regular public school serving prekindergarten through fifth grade in Bishopville, the county seat of Lee County. It is part of the Lee 01 school district.
The school sits in a small, rural town with a quiet character and a deep agricultural heritage, especially in cotton. Bishopville has a declining population and a high poverty rate. The town’s civic life centers on its downtown courthouse and museums, but the schools, including Dennis Elementary, are on separate campuses. The economic context is one of contraction, with limited new investment or major employers; many residents likely commute to larger nearby cities. Housing values in the area are well below state and national benchmarks, and home prices have recently softened, making it a relatively affordable place to live.
Dennis Elementary enrolls students across all elementary grades. The student body is predominantly African American, with smaller shares of white students and students identifying as two or more races or Hispanic. Every student at this school qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a universally high level of economic need. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, and neither were discipline, staffing, or attendance figures.
State testing results are available for the 2024-25 school year across math, English language arts, and science. In math, proficiency rates decline as students move up through the grades, with the highest rate in third grade and the lowest in fifth grade. In English language arts, results show a similar pattern, with fourth graders posting a slightly higher proficiency rate than third graders, and fifth graders again lowest. In fourth-grade science, proficiency was lower still. Data for social studies dates back to 2018-19, with proficiency at that time also on the lower end. Testing in fourth-grade science and the English language arts results for all tested grades were affected by a change in cut scores or assessments, meaning those results are not directly comparable to prior years. The district's overall proficiency context is difficult to place because there is only one district in Lee County, so the comparison set is effectively a single district.
The school has only a single year of proficiency data for the tested subjects, so there is no trend line to assess improvement or decline over time. With early- and upper-elementary grades included, there is no graduation rate, which is expected for a school that does not serve high school grades.
A parent considering Dennis Elementary will find a school situated in a town with a shrinking population, very high poverty, and limited local economic opportunity. The student body is small and economically homogenous in terms of need. Academic proficiency on state tests, where data is available, shows that a minority of students in each grade meet the state's proficiency benchmarks in reading and math, and science results are lower still. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly around how the school supports students who are not yet meeting grade-level standards and what academic interventions are in place.
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