Virtus Academy of South Carolina, Florence SC

Original Research by School Decision on Virtus Academy of South Carolina

Virtus Academy of South Carolina is a public charter school in Florence, serving kindergarten through tenth grade. As a regular school authorized by the Charter Institute at Erskine, it sits within a statewide district that has grown to encompass many schools and recently drew a state legislative audit focused on oversight and operations. That review could affect how the authorizer supports its schools going forward, a point families may want to track.

Florence itself is a mid-sized regional hub in the Pee Dee area, anchored by healthcare, manufacturing, and distribution. The city has invested heavily in downtown redevelopment over the past several years, adding a library, performing arts center, museum, and new apartments along Evans Street, though the city remains largely car-dependent outside that corridor. Major employers include two hospital systems, General Electric, Honda, and a QVC distribution center, giving the local economy a mix of medical, industrial, and service jobs.

Virtus Academy enrolled a student body that is predominantly white, with a sizable Black population and smaller shares of Hispanic, multiracial, and Asian students. Nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate far above the national norm. The school’s grade span means it houses elementary, middle, and early high school grades under one roof, a configuration some families appreciate for continuity and others find less typical.

On state assessments, ELA proficiency was the stronger subject. In most tested grades, roughly half of students met the bar, a result that held steady from third through eighth grade. Math proficiency was considerably lower across the board, falling below a third of students in most grades and dropping to a particularly low level in eighth grade. Science results, available for fourth and sixth grades, fell in between, with about two in five students proficient. Parents considering this school may want to ask how the school supports math learning, especially as students move into middle school, and whether any targeted interventions are in place for the upper grades.

Because the school does not yet serve grades eleven or twelve, no graduation rate is available, a gap the school’s own grade configuration explains. Course access data and discipline figures were also not reported in the materials reviewed, so a family would need to follow up directly with the school on those topics.

The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages performance across tested subjects and grades, placed it below the midpoint among districts in Florence County. Four districts were in that comparison set, so Virtus sits on the lower side of a small local field, though the gap to the middle is modest.

The Charter Institute at Erskine, the authorizing district, has expanded rapidly, reaching many schools and thousands of students across South Carolina. The 2025 legislative audit examined how the institute oversees its schools, and any changes that result could ripple into how Virtus operates, from academic monitoring to financial compliance. For now, the school remains one of a growing network of charters offering families an alternative to traditional district assignments in the Florence area.

Virtus Academy offers a relatively small, early-through-middle-grade environment in a community with a diversified economy and ongoing downtown reinvestment. The academic picture shows a clear gap between ELA and math, and the share of students from low-income households is nearly universal, which may factor into a family’s sense of the peer group and the resources the school can marshal. Without more detailed program or staffing data publicly available, a visit and a conversation with the school leadership would be the next step for any parent trying to decide whether this fits their child.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 332%

School 32% · District 41% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 428%

School 28% · District 36% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 30% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 637%

School 37% · District 30% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Grade 729%

School 29% · District 29%

▲ 1 pts above state median

Grade 813%

School 13% · District 25% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 57% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 56% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 58% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 653%

School 53% · District 60% · ▼ 7 pts below district

even with state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 744%

School 44% · District 61% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median

Grade 856%

School 56% · District 60% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median

Science

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 40% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 47% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 56% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

This schoolCharter Institute at Erskine, 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-income47%Higher-income68%21 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income43%Higher-income72%30 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income49%Higher-income54%5 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income46%Higher-income65%20 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income38%Higher-income54%16 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income50%Higher-income65%15 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income27%Higher-income46%19 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income17%Higher-income48%31 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income20%Higher-income39%19 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income30%Higher-income50%21 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income21%Higher-income42%20 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income3%Higher-income30%27 pp gap