The top reported proficiency rate is 71% in Math. The lowest is 42% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Cannons Elementary
Cannons Elementary is a regular public school serving prekindergarten through fifth grade in Spartanburg, South Carolina, part of Spartanburg County School District 3. The school sits on Old Converse Road in the eastern part of the city. Spartanburg is a mid-sized Upstate city that once anchored the textile industry and now has a diversified economy built around healthcare, higher education, corporate headquarters, and nearby manufacturing like the BMW plant in Greer. Downtown has undergone a visible revitalization over the past decade, with a new minor league ballpark, a remodeled town square, and protected bicycle infrastructure. Outside the downtown core the city takes on a suburban character, and Cannons Elementary sits in one of those residential neighborhoods.
Academically, Cannons Elementary puts up strong numbers on state assessments. In the most recent school year, math proficiency rates across grades three through five were solid, with the highest share of students meeting the state’s college-and-career-ready standard in third grade and a similarly high rate in fifth grade. English language arts results followed a similar pattern: the highest proficiency appeared in fifth grade, while third and fourth grades also had clear majorities of students reaching the benchmark. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages performance across tested subjects and grades, landed in the top quartile when compared with other school systems in Spartanburg County. That positions Cannons as a strong performer relative to its local peers.
Science tells a different story. Fourth graders took the state science assessment, and fewer than half scored at the proficient level. The state changed both the assessment name and the cut scores for science in that year, which can affect comparability, but the result itself is a noticeable gap for families to be aware of. A parent may want to ask how the school supports science instruction in the early grades and how that might build toward later performance. Social studies data comes from a pre-pandemic year (2018-19) with an older test and different proficiency criteria, so it offers little for current judgment.
Every student at Cannons Elementary qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of the school’s economic context. The student body is majority white, with notable shares of Black and Hispanic students and smaller numbers of Asian and multiracial students. The school’s enrollment is moderate for an elementary school, with roughly similar class sizes across kindergarten through fifth grade and a sizable prekindergarten program. Housing in the surrounding area is moderately priced relative to national benchmarks; home values have risen modestly in the last year, and rents have also increased slightly. The broader Spartanburg County housing market is somewhat more affordable than the state average.
The district did not have recent publicly reported changes or initiatives that would affect a family’s decision, based on available information. Some common data points for an elementary school are missing from the public record: counts of students with disabilities and English learners, discipline figures, staffing ratios, and chronic absenteeism rates were not reported in the data we reviewed. Those are typically available from state or civil rights collections, so a parent may want to request them directly from the school or district.
Cannons Elementary offers a solid academic foundation in math and reading, with performance that stands out in the county. The science results are a soft spot worth exploring, and the school serves a population where all students are eligible for meal assistance, which can shape the kind of community and support programs a family finds. For a parent seeking a neighborhood elementary with strong core academics in a growing mid-sized city, Cannons fits that profile.
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