James H. Hendrix Elementary, Boiling Springs SC

Original Research by School Decision on James H. Hendrix Elementary

James H. Hendrix Elementary is a regular public school in Boiling Springs serving students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It sits in the Spartanburg County School District 2, a district that has been publicly recognized as the top district in South Carolina in recent years. That recognition speaks to the system as a whole; Hendrix is one of its elementary schools and reflects both the strengths and the particular character of its community.

The school enrolls a substantial number of students for an elementary in this setting, with enrollment concentrated in the primary grades. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a high-poverty bracket. The student body is predominantly white, with a sizeable Black population and a significant proportion of students who identify as two or more races. Smaller shares of students are Asian, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the reviewed sources.

On statewide assessments administered in the most recent school year, Hendrix students performed at a level that, when averaged across tested subjects and grades, sits above the midpoint among districts in Spartanburg County. That is a meaningful benchmark in a county with over a dozen districts. Looking at individual subjects, proficiency rates in English language arts were highest, with the upper grades showing a majority of students scoring proficient. Math results were lower overall and showed more variation; one grade level posted a proficiency rate below half. Science results, available only for one grade, landed close to the midpoint. All of these results come from a year in which the state made changes to some assessment cut scores, so direct comparisons to prior years are not advisable. Social studies data on file is from several years ago and not current.

The school's academic picture is set against the backdrop of a rapidly growing community. Boiling Springs is a census-designated place that has seen its population increase sharply over the past two decades. It is a suburban, car-dependent area without a traditional downtown. Commercial development lines Highway 9 and McMillian Boulevard, anchored by a shopping center that includes national chains and local businesses. The community's namesake spring now sits as a memorial park near that same intersection. Most residents own their homes, and the commute pattern is overwhelmingly by car. Housing values in the area are near the broader state median, and rents reflect a typical market for the region.

No information on special programs, enrichment offerings, or course access was available for Hendrix in the reviewed data. The school's own website may provide more detail on after-school activities, gifted services, or partnerships, but those were not part of this profile. Similarly, discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, and staffing ratios were absent from the provided records, so this narrative cannot speak to those dimensions of school life.

For a parent considering Hendrix, the core facts are these. This is a neighborhood elementary in a growing suburban corridor whose district carries a strong reputation. The school serves a population with high economic need, and its assessment results are generally around the middle of the county, with a stronger showing in reading than in math at some grade levels. The community itself offers a familiar suburban pattern of subdivisions and strip retail, with no downtown pedestrian center. Families who value a school with a broad cross-section of students and a district-level track record may find Hendrix a solid fit. Those who want to understand the math trajectory or the availability of enrichment programs would want to ask the school directly, as those details were not available from the data used here.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 61% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 64% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 60% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 66% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 462%

School 62% · District 71% · ▼ 9 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 70% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 55% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 472%

School 72% · district not reported

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

This schoolSpartanburg 02, 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-income54%Higher-income57%3 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income55%Higher-income85%29 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income58%Higher-income43%15 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income52%Higher-income58%6 pp gap