Beech Springs Intermediate, Duncan SC

Original Research by School Decision on Beech Springs Intermediate

Beech Springs Intermediate serves only fifth and sixth grade, a narrow middle-school entry point that feeds into a separate upper-grades building. The school sits in Duncan, a small but growing town in Spartanburg County that straddles the I-85 corridor between Greenville and Spartanburg. Duncan’s economy is industrial, with several European manufacturers maintaining North American headquarters in town and the BMW assembly plant in nearby Greer shaping the regional job market. The town is auto-oriented, built around highway access, and its population is rising steadily. Housing values in the zip code around the school sit roughly in line with the state benchmark, and rents are near the national average for affordability.

The student body at Beech Springs is predominantly white, with Hispanic and Black students each making up a sizable share. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a community with a wide income range and a notable poverty rate. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and is part of the Spartanburg 05 district.

State testing results for the most recent year show a mixed picture that a parent will want to weigh school by school. On English language arts, the share of students scoring proficient or above hovers around half across sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The seventh-grade cohort edges slightly higher than the sixth, and eighth grade lands at an even midpoint. These scores sit below the median among Spartanburg County’s districts, placing Beech Springs in the bottom quarter of the county for overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. Math proficiency is notably lower, with the sixth-grade cohort at a modest share, seventh grade slightly lower, and eighth grade falling well below a third of students. Science results for sixth grade show a near-even split between proficient and not. The state changed the test and cut scores for some subjects in recent years, which makes it difficult to compare performance across years, so the single year of data is the only reliable snapshot.

Social studies results are available only from several years ago, from the fifth grade, before the switch to the current assessment. At that time, a majority of fifth graders met proficiency under the old criteria. This older data offers little insight into the current program.

The school serves only two grades, so there is no graduation rate, no advanced coursework like AP or dual credit, and no career pathway data to report. The school environment data, including discipline, staffing, and attendance rates, was not available in the source material. A parent who wants a fuller picture of daily conditions, class sizes, or the school’s climate would need to ask the school directly.

What is clear is that Beech Springs Intermediate is a school where a majority of students arrive with economic need and where academic proficiency, especially in math, trails the county norm. The English language arts results are more mixed, with about half of students meeting the bar. For a family considering this school, the question is how well the school supports students who are below grade level in math and whether the district provides targeted interventions. The district brief found no recent major changes, such as a bond referendum or curriculum overhaul, that would alter the school’s trajectory in the near term. Families moving into the area should also note that Duncan’s growth is steady, driven by industrial employment, and that the housing market, while not cheap, is within reach of a median-income household. The school itself is one piece of a larger district puzzle that extends beyond the intermediate years.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 638%

School 38% · District 44% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 732%

School 32% · District 39% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 823%

School 23% · District 38% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 57% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 755%

School 55% · District 60% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 59% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 648%

School 48% · District 47% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 573%

School 73% · District 76% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

This schoolSpartanburg 05, 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 5Lower-income50%Higher-income65%16 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income46%Higher-income76%30 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income48%Higher-income70%22 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income43%Higher-income63%21 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income42%Higher-income64%22 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income32%Higher-income54%22 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income27%Higher-income44%18 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income14%Higher-income40%27 pp gap