Goodwill School was established by missionaries from the Northern Presbyterian Church shortly after the Civil War to serve freed people and their children. In an 1872 report, the Committee on Freedmen of the Presbyterian Church reported that Goodwill School served 350 students and was one of the most active Presbyterian parochial schools in South Carolina. The building that stands today was built about 1890. The Presbyterian Church continued to sponsor the school until 1933. Goodwill Presbyterian Church continued to operate the school until it was consolidated with Sumter Co. Public School District 2 in 1960. Throughout its history Goodwill School provided education to African American students from Sumter Co. and beyond.