Ford Elementary

Summary:

Ford Elementary is a public elementary school in Laurens, South Carolina, serving 416 students in grades PK-5. The school is part of the Laurens 55 School District, which is ranked 63 out of 75 districts in the state and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Ford Elementary faces significant challenges in student academic achievement, consistently ranking in the bottom 25% of South Carolina elementary schools with a 0-star rating. The school has a diverse student population, with 28.12% White, 25.96% African American, and 40.87% Hispanic students, but its proficiency rates in English Language Arts and Mathematics are significantly lower than the state and district averages. Despite a high spending of $12,917 per student, the school's performance remains well below nearby schools like Hickory Tavern Elementary/Middle and Waterloo Elementary, both in the Laurens 55 district.

The challenges faced by Ford Elementary are further compounded by its high poverty rate, with 100% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. This suggests that the school may need to implement targeted interventions and strategies to address the unique needs of its student population, particularly the significant achievement gaps observed between different racial groups. The school's consistent low performance over the years indicates a need for a more effective and tailored approach to improving student outcomes at Ford Elementary.


Detail:

Public PK, KG-5

 601 Lucas Avenue
       Laurens, SC  29360


(864) 984-3986

District: Laurens 55

SchoolDigger Rank:
604th of 638 South Carolina Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $12,917 Help


Students who attend Ford Elementary usually attend:

Middle:    Sanders Middle
High:    Laurens District 55 High

Student/teacher ratio:  12.3 Help
Number of students:  416

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
40.9%
White:
28.1%
African American:
26.0%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  100% Help


 See top rated South Carolina elementary schools

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Performance Trends
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Compare Details Ford Elementary ranks worse than 94.7% of elementary schools in South Carolina. It also ranks last among 6 ranked elementary schools in the Laurens 55 School District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 9.84. (See more...)
Help
Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.
Student Body
Help
Compare Details Ford Elementary has the largest elementary school student body size in the Laurens 55 School District.  (See more...)
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Ford Elementary is $12,917, which is the 3rd highest among 6 elementary schools in the Laurens 55 School District.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Ford Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Ford Elementary 604th of 638 South Carolina public elementary schools. (See Ford Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


English Language Learner students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Male students:
Hispanic students:


Laurens 55:

SchoolDigger ranks Laurens 55 63rd of 75 South Carolina school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for Ford Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Ford Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools SC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2003 42.11 349th 542 35.6%
2004 65.16 190th 550 65.5%
2005 54.68 282nd 557 49.4%
2006 43.64 358th 559 36.0%
2007 40.57 387th 566 31.6%
2008 24.40 489th 577 15.3%
2009 34.67 420th 580 27.6%
2010 27.83 479th 589 18.7%
2011 23.61 503rd 597 15.7%
2012 23.53 508th 594 14.5%
2013 16.43 544th 599 9.2%
2014 14.66 588th 630 6.7%
2015 11.69 609th 638 4.5%
2016 8.42 588th 619 5.0%
2017 11.77 596th 639 6.7%
2018 19.21 521st 624 16.5%
2019 5.88 628th 643 2.3%
2021 9.42 583rd 622 6.3%
2022 11.15 570th 625 8.8%
2023 8.76 615th 644 4.5%
2024 9.84 604th 638 5.3%
See the entire list of South Carolina Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Ford Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools SC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 17.10 76th 82 7.3%
2019 9.38 102nd 104 1.9%
2021 11.27 83rd 84 1.2%
2022 16.04 74th 84 11.9%
2024 13.80 74th 79 6.3%
See the entire list of Best South Carolina Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Ford Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools SC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 25.99 471st 588 19.9%
2019 7.69 586th 600 2.3%
2021 14.08 526th 580 9.3%
2022 19.58 504th 600 16.0%
2023 15.89 543rd 608 10.7%
2024 13.64 554th 599 7.5%
See the entire list of Best South Carolina Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Ford Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools SC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 17.60 492nd 570 13.7%
2019 4.61 582nd 588 1.0%
2021 7.97 534th 554 3.6%
2022 8.99 540th 573 5.8%
2023 4.65 574th 580 1.0%
2024 3.95 563rd 565 0.4%
See the entire list of Best South Carolina Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at Ford Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools SC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 20.71 480th 571 15.9%
2019 7.39 572nd 590 3.1%
2021 9.40 524th 561 6.6%
2022 13.12 514th 579 11.2%
2023 13.43 517th 582 11.2%
2024 17.15 484th 568 14.8%
See the entire list of Best South Carolina Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at Ford Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools SC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 25.10 354th 412 14.1%
2019 10.53 414th 421 1.7%
See the entire list of Best South Carolina Elementary Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Ford Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools SC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 14.16 96th 104 7.7%
2019 8.14 114th 116 1.7%
2021 7.31 86th 86 0.0%
2022 13.77 108th 115 6.1%
2023 12.73 108th 115 6.1%
2024 12.59 108th 115 6.1%
See the entire list of Best South Carolina Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Ford Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools SC State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 18.95 386th 457 15.5%
2019 2.80 468th 472 0.8%
See the entire list of Best South Carolina Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: South Carolina Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Ford Elementary Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 





Data source: South Carolina Department of Education

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Enrollment information for Ford Elementary

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 515 118 0 0 0 n/a n/a 0 633
1989 438 144 0 1 0 n/a n/a 0 583
1990 459 123 0 0 0 n/a n/a 0 582
1991 429 114 0 0 0 n/a n/a 0 543
1992 412 108 0 0 0 n/a n/a 0 520
1993 407 89 0 0 0 n/a n/a 0 496
1994 537 117 0 0 0 n/a n/a 0 654
1995 508 177 2 1 0 n/a n/a 0 688
1996 508 177 2 1 0 n/a n/a 0 688
1997 494 173 1 17 0 n/a n/a 0 685
1998 502 177 1 16 0 n/a n/a 0 696
1999 518 192 0 16 0 n/a n/a 0 726
2000 530 207 0 47 0 n/a n/a 0 784
2001 488 200 0 71 0 n/a n/a 1 760
2002 283 105 0 79 1 n/a n/a 1 469
2003 283 105 0 79 1 n/a n/a 1 469
2004 268 113 0 84 1 n/a n/a 0 466
2005 244 107 2 110 1 n/a n/a 1 465
2006 259 115 2 129 1 n/a n/a 13 519
2007 215 119 2 153 2 n/a n/a 0 491
2008 230 122 1 140 1 n/a n/a 8 502
2009 227 107 1 147 1 n/a n/a 5 488
2010 215 113 3 165 1 n/a n/a 6 503
2011 195 114 1 168 0 0 7 0 485
2012 200 114 2 183 0 0 10 0 509
2013 218 119 2 183 0 0 10 0 532
2014 189 129 4 196 0 0 11 0 529
2015 183 133 4 210 0 0 8 0 538
2016 166 125 3 211 0 0 17 0 522
2017 158 130 1 215 0 0 24 0 528
2018 165 141 1 201 0 0 26 0 534
2019 154 137 0 185 0 0 18 0 494
2020 144 138 0 189 0 0 18 0 489
2021 113 101 0 202 0 0 17 0 433
2022 134 103 0 184 0 0 21 0 442
2023 117 108 0 170 0 0 21 0 416

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Ford Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 633 37.7 16.7 n/a
1989 583 37.8 15.4 n/a
1990 582 33.1 17.5 n/a
1991 543 36.2 15.0 27.1
1992 520 34.6 15.0 30.8
1993 496 34.0 14.6 32.1
1994 654 37.0 17.7 46
1995 688 36.9 18.6 45.8
1996 688 36.9 18.6 45.8
1997 685 40.5 16.9 49.1
1998 696 43.5 16.0 59.9
1999 726 48.0 15.1 58.7
2000 784 53.0 14.8 55
2001 760 54.0 14.1 63.5
2002 469 33.0 14.2 79.1
2003 469 33.0 14.2 79.1
2004 466 33.0 14.1 77.9
2005 465 28.0 16.6 84.7
2006 519 32.0 16.2 87.4
2007 491 55.0 8.9 88
2008 502 32.0 15.7 89.7
2009 488 31.0 15.7 88.4
2010 503 31.5 15.9 94
2011 485 25.0 19.4 93
2012 509 27.0 18.8 93.1
2013 532 29.6 17.9 93.8
2014 529 33.1 15.9 96.2
2015 538 36.0 14.9 84
2016 522 35.0 14.9 93.7
2017 528 31.0 17.0 100
2018 534 33.0 16.1 100
2019 494 34.0 14.5 100
2020 489 37.0 13.2 100
2021 433 34.0 12.7 100
2022 442 32.7 13.5 100
2023 416 33.7 12.3 100

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Ford Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 633 37.7 16.7 n/a
1989 583 37.8 15.4 n/a
1990 582 33.1 17.5 n/a
1991 543 36.2 15.0 27.1
1992 520 34.6 15.0 30.8
1993 496 34.0 14.6 32.1
1994 654 37.0 17.7 46
1995 688 36.9 18.6 45.8
1996 688 36.9 18.6 45.8
1997 685 40.5 16.9 49.1
1998 696 43.5 16.0 59.9
1999 726 48.0 15.1 58.7
2000 784 53.0 14.8 55
2001 760 54.0 14.1 63.5
2002 469 33.0 14.2 79.1
2003 469 33.0 14.2 79.1
2004 466 33.0 14.1 77.9
2005 465 28.0 16.6 84.7
2006 519 32.0 16.2 87.4
2007 491 55.0 8.9 88
2008 502 32.0 15.7 89.7
2009 488 31.0 15.7 88.4
2010 503 31.5 15.9 94
2011 485 25.0 19.4 93
2012 509 27.0 18.8 93.1
2013 532 29.6 17.9 93.8
2014 529 33.1 15.9 96.2
2015 538 36.0 14.9 84
2016 522 35.0 14.9 93.7
2017 528 31.0 17.0 100
2018 534 33.0 16.1 100
2019 494 34.0 14.5 100
2020 489 37.0 13.2 100
2021 433 34.0 12.7 100
2022 442 32.7 13.5 100
2023 416 33.7 12.3 100

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for Ford Elementary

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YearPersonnel Expenditures from Federal FundsNon-Personnel Expenditures from Federal FundsTotal Expenditures from Federal FundsPersonnel Expenditures from State and Local FundsNon-Personnel Expenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $550 (5.9%) $238 (2.5%) $788 (8.4%) $6,883 (73.3%) $1,720 (18.3%) $8,603 (91.6%) $9,391
2020 $661 (6.4%) $244 (2.4%) $905 (8.8%) $7,668 (74.5%) $1,718 (16.7%) $9,386 (91.2%) $10,291
2021 $672 (6.0%) $365 (3.2%) $1,038 (9.2%) $8,469 (75.3%) $1,736 (15.4%) $10,205 (90.8%) $11,243
2022 $1,251 (9.5%) $900 (6.8%) $2,151 (16.4%) $9,091 (69.1%) $1,912 (14.5%) $11,003 (83.6%) $13,154
2023 $1,514 (11.7%) $802 (6.2%) $2,316 (17.9%) $8,653 (67.0%) $1,947 (15.1%) $10,601 (82.1%) $12,917

Data source: South Carolina Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Ford Elementary

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 628th of 643 Elementary schoolsRanks 615th of 644 Elementary schools
 2.2%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade English Language Arts (Ford Elementary)1917.2
 1.8%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts (Laurens 55)33.533.5
   3rd Grade English Language Arts (South Carolina)49.753.5
 3.8%
3rd Grade Mathematics (Ford Elementary)28.217.2
 11%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Laurens 55)37.637
 0.6%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (South Carolina)57.753.6
 4.1%
4th Grade Science (Ford Elementary)20.317.3
 3%
   4th Grade Science (Laurens 55)40.134.2
 5.9%
   4th Grade Science (South Carolina)5246.6
 5.4%
4th Grade English Language Arts (Ford Elementary)21.631.1
 9.5%
   4th Grade English Language Arts (Laurens 55)4041.1
 1.1%
   4th Grade English Language Arts (South Carolina)51.357.2
 5.9%
4th Grade Mathematics (Ford Elementary)16.527.6
 11.1%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Laurens 55)2932.5
 3.5%
   4th Grade Mathematics (South Carolina)50.547
 3.5%
5th Grade English Language Arts (Ford Elementary)10.524.2
 13.7%
   5th Grade English Language Arts (Laurens 55)27.939.1
 11.2%
   5th Grade English Language Arts (South Carolina)4155.2
 14.2%
5th Grade Mathematics (Ford Elementary)11.821
 9.2%
   5th Grade Mathematics (Laurens 55)28.628.8
 0.2%
   5th Grade Mathematics (South Carolina)45.444.6
 0.8%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students494416
 15.8%
African American137108
 21.2%
American Indian00
Asian00
Hispanic185170
 8.1%
Pacific Islander00
White154117
 24%
Two or More Races1821
 16.7%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients100%100%


Schools Near Ford Elementary









Frequently Asked Questions about Ford Elementary

Students at Ford Elementary are 41% Hispanic, 28% White, 26% African American, 5% Two or more races.

Ford Elementary ranks in the bottom 5.3% of South Carolina elementary schools.

In the 2022-23 school year, 416 students attended Ford Elementary.

Students who attend Ford Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Sanders Middle
High : Laurens District 55 High


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the South Carolina Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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