Spartanburg Preparatory School, Spartanburg SC

Original Research by School Decision on Spartanburg Preparatory School

Spartanburg Preparatory School is a public charter school serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, located on South Spring Street in downtown Spartanburg. It operates under the SC Public Charter School District, a statewide authorizer rather than a traditional geographic district, which means the school draws students from across the area through an application process rather than from a fixed neighborhood attendance zone. That charter status gives families a choice within Spartanburg County, where most students attend district-run schools.

The student body is around mid-sized for a pre-K-through-8 school and is diverse, with a majority of students identifying as Black, roughly a fifth as White, and smaller shares of Hispanic students and students of two or more races. Every enrolled student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch under federal guidelines, a marker that the school serves a community with predominantly lower household incomes. The school does not report the share of students with disabilities or English learners, so those details are not part of the available picture.

On state assessments, Spartanburg Preparatory’s results vary by subject and grade. In English language arts, proficiency rates across tested grades sit roughly in the range where a substantial share of students meet the state’s bar. In several grades, the majority of students reach that level. In math, the picture is softer. Across grades three through eight, the share of students scoring proficient stays lower, and in the upper grades the rates drop notably. The overall performance index, which averages results across tested subjects and grades, places the school in the bottom quarter among the districts in Spartanburg County that have comparable data. A parent looking at these numbers may want to ask the school directly about how math instruction is structured, what interventions are available, and how the school tracks individual student growth from year to year.

The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. That ends at eighth grade, meaning families will need to plan for a transition into a high school. Because Spartanburg Preparatory is a charter school, its students typically move on to other public, private, or charter high schools in the region.

The city of Spartanburg itself is a mid-sized regional hub in the Upstate, with a historic downtown core that has seen substantial reinvestment in recent years. A new minor league ballpark opened in 2025, and the downtown area is compact and walkable around Morgan Square. Major employers include a large regional health system, county government, the local school district, and several corporate headquarters. Several colleges and universities are within the city limits. The housing market in the area, based on typical home values and rents, sits below the national and state benchmarks, which may be relevant for families weighing affordability.

What is missing from the available data is information on discipline, staffing ratios, chronic absenteeism, and course access. Without that, a family cannot get a full picture of daily school climate or how the school supports students who struggle. A visit and a conversation with the principal would fill many of those gaps. The school’s charter status also means it has its own governance board and may have a specific educational model or mission, but the data provided does not describe one, so that remains something to explore directly.

Spartanburg Preparatory offers a public charter option for families in and around Spartanburg who want a pre-K-through-8 environment. Its academic profile shows a reading program where many students meet the state standard, while math results are a clear area of concern, especially as students get older. The school serves a low-income population almost entirely, and its location in a revitalizing downtown city gives students access to a civic and institutional environment that includes colleges, parks, and a growing cultural scene.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 325%

School 25% · District 50% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 441%

School 41% · District 44% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 36% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 35% · ▼ 1 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 717%

School 17% · District 32% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 811%

School 11% · District 24% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 59% · ▼ 15 pts below district

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

Grade 457%

School 57% · District 60% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 58% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 664%

School 64% · District 62% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 753%

School 53% · District 64% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 59% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 43% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 50%

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

Social studies

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 66% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 749%

School 49% · District 65% · ▼ 16 pts below district

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

This schoolSC Public Charter School District, 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.