Two Rock Hill region schools ranked best in SC. See where all area schools rate

Catawba Ridge and Fort Mill high schools rank as the best traditional high schools in South Carolina, according to annual school report cards released Monday.

The South Carolina Department of Education and Education Oversight Committee scored schools on metrics from standardized test scores to teacher qualifications, student safety and progress toward meeting goals or improvement metrics. Schools received a score of 1 to 100.

The top 16 schools were a combination of charter, magnet, college prep or application-based specialty programs. The first traditional school on the list was Catawba Ridge, with a score of 83. Fort Mill was the next traditional school with a score of 82.

For high schools, a score of 67 to 100 means an “excellent” rating. Legion Collegiate Academy (81), Nation Ford (73), Clover (72), Buford (71), Riverwalk Academy (70), Indian Land (69) and York Preparatory Academy (68) high schools all fell in that range.

A score of 60 to 66 is a “good” rating, with 51-59 an “average” mark, a 40-50 scoring “below average” and anything lower listed as “unsatisfactory.”

Middle school ranges differed. Anything from 56 to 100 is “excellent.” Fort Mill (69), Banks Trail (67), Gold Hill (66), Forest Creek (63), Indian Land Intermediate (63), Pleasant Knoll (63), Springfield (63) and Ascent Classical Academy (57) scored excellent ratings. Scores of 48 to 55 were “good,” 36 to 47 were “average,” 29 to 35 were “below average” and anything lower was “unsatisfactory.”

Elementary school scores of 61 to 100 made “excellent.” The Rock Hill region had 18 of them, led by the Discovery School in Lancaster County (75), River Trail (73) and Gold Hill (69) elementary schools. “Good” schools scored 53 to 60, followed by “average” schools at 42 to 52, “below average” ones at 34 to 41 and “unsatisfactory” ones at 33 or lower.

Use the chart below to find scores for all 103 Rock Hill region schools listed in the report card data.

John Marks

The Herald

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John Marks graduated from Furman University in 2004 and joined the Herald in 2005. He covers community growth, municipalities, transportation and education mainly in York County and Lancaster County. The Fort Mill native earned dozens of South Carolina Press Association awards and multiple McClatchy President’s Awards for news coverage in Fort Mill and Lake Wylie. Support my work with a digital subscription