The top reported proficiency rate is 79% in Social studies. The lowest is 66% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Alice Drive Elementary
Alice Drive Elementary is a regular public school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Sumter, South Carolina, part of the Sumter 01 district. The school is located on a street named Alice Drive in a neighborhood within this mid-sized city that functions as a regional hub for east-central South Carolina. Sumter has a working-city texture shaped by major employers including Shaw Air Force Base, a regional medical center, and a mix of manufacturing, aerospace, and biotech industries, rather than a bedroom-community feel.
The school enrolls a student body that is roughly evenly split between white students and Black students, each group making up close to half of the total population. Smaller shares of students identify as Asian, Hispanic, or of two or more races, and a very small number identify as American Indian or Alaska Native. Every enrolled student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a fact that parents should be aware of when considering the school's economic context. Data on English learner and special education populations were not available, so those aspects of the student body could not be characterized.
On state assessments in the most recent school year, Alice Drive Elementary posted results that reflect a school performing at a solid level, with some variation by grade and subject. In English language arts, across third, fourth, and fifth grades, the share of students scoring proficient or above was steady and comfortably above half, with fourth and fifth graders reaching around seven out of ten students reaching that benchmark. In math, performance was more uneven. A strong majority of fourth graders were proficient, and a similar share of third graders reached that level, but fifth graders showed a noticeably lower rate, with a little over half of students scoring proficient. Science results, reported only for fourth grade, were strong, with nearly three-quarters of students meeting the proficiency standard. Social studies data came from a much older testing year and covered only fifth grade, with a high proficiency rate at that time, but given the age of the data and subsequent changes to assessments, that result is not comparable to the current picture.
Because the comparison universe of school districts within Sumter County contained only a single district, there was no meaningful basis to position Alice Drive Elementary's overall proficiency against other local schools. The school does not serve high school grades, so no graduation rate applies. Chronic absenteeism data was also missing. A parent who wants to understand attendance patterns or how this school's test results compare to other elementary schools in the region may wish to ask the school or district directly for that context.
The school's academic trend data is limited to a single year of results for both English language arts and math, so no trend direction—improving, declining, or holding steady—can be discerned. The state made changes to cut scores and assessment names for some subjects in recent years, which further complicates any attempt to compare current results to older data.
Housing in the zip code area that includes the school is notably more affordable than the statewide and national benchmarks. Home values are below the South Carolina median and well below the national median, and rents are moderate relative to incomes. For a family considering a move to the area, the housing market offers a lower-cost entry point than many other parts of the state.
The district itself showed no major parent-relevant changes in publicly reported sources, so the operational context is stable without recent structural shifts or program overhauls to report.
Alice Drive Elementary presents as a neighborhood school in a city with a military-anchored economy, serving a diverse and economically disadvantaged student body. Its strongest academic showing was in fourth-grade science and in English language arts across the upper elementary grades. The lower math proficiency in fifth grade is a soft spot that a parent may want to discuss with the school to understand what support is available. With the caveat that some key context data is missing, the school's test results suggest a generally capable academic environment with room for attention to math as students approach middle school.
See more original research from School Decision →