The top reported proficiency rate is 33% in Math. The lowest is 22% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Sheridan Elementary
Sheridan Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in Orangeburg, the county seat of Orangeburg County. The city is shaped by two historically Black universities, Claflin University and South Carolina State University, which give the community a strong institutional character, along with Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College. The local economy is anchored by these higher-education employers, the Regional Medical Center, and county government. Downtown Orangeburg centers on Russell Street, and the city has pursued revitalization efforts through the Downtown Orangeburg Revitalization Association. Housing values in the area are well below state and national benchmarks, and median rents reflect a relatively affordable market compared to larger metro areas.
Sheridan Elementary is a regular public school within the Orangeburg school district. The student body draws from the surrounding neighborhoods, and the school’s enrollment is made up predominantly of Black students, with small shares of Hispanic, white, and multiracial students, and very small numbers of Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaska Native students. Every enrolled student qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, indicating a high concentration of families with low household income. The school serves a full prekindergarten program, which may be a point of interest for families seeking early childhood access within the public system.
On state assessments administered through South Carolina’s SC Ready program, Sheridan’s proficiency rates were mixed across grades and subjects, and the school had only a single year of assessment data available in the reporting set, so no trend can be established at this point. In third-grade math and English language arts, the share of students scoring proficient or above was roughly equal. Fourth-grade math had a higher proficiency rate, but fourth-grade ELA was lower, and fourth-grade science was the weakest of any tested subject at the school. Fifth-grade math fell to the lowest point in that subject across the three tested grade levels, while fifth-grade ELA was about average for the school. A parent looking at these results may want to ask the school how it supports students as they move into the upper elementary grades, particularly in math and science, where proficiency rates dropped more noticeably. Because the state changed its cut scores for ELA and science during this testing cycle, direct comparisons with past years or with other schools using older benchmarks may not be straightforward, and the school could have more recent internal data that provides a fuller picture.
The comparison dataset did not have enough schools in Orangeburg County to position Sheridan Elementary relative to its county peers; only one school had comparable proficiency data, so no meaningful ranking was possible. That means a parent’s best reference point is to look at the district’s other elementary schools and ask how Sheridan’s results and approach compare.
The school’s staffing, discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, and special education or English learner populations were not reported in the available data. A parent may want to inquire with the school directly about class sizes, teacher experience, and support services for students with individualized education plans or language needs, as these are important factors in the early grades. The district itself did not surface any recent major changes, reorganizations, or initiatives in public records that would alter a family’s day-to-day experience at Sheridan.
For a family considering this school, the main considerations are the high-poverty context, the modest academic proficiency rates that vary by grade and subject, and the absence of comparative benchmarks in the county. The school’s prekindergarten program and its position within a city with university-anchored civic life are concrete assets. A parent who values close collaboration with teachers and is comfortable digging into how the school addresses academic gaps at the upper elementary level will find this a straightforward place to start that conversation.
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