NCES CCD 2024-25 32 schools SC

Best-Resourced Schools in Charleston, SC

Compiled from official source data by .

32 public K-12 schools in Charleston from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.

PlainSchools home → About this data
32
Schools
19,674
Students
48.4/100
Avg Resource Index
14.5:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Middle-of-corpus city profile

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Charleston has more public-school enrollment than 92% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Charleston sits in the broad middle of the national city distribution rather than at a single obvious extreme. Its scale, average Resource Investment Index, and staffing position need to be read together: a middle placement on one measure does not cancel a stronger or weaker result on another. The percentile panel makes those dimensions explicit, and the school table shows where the city aggregate breaks into materially different campus profiles.

Combined-grade campuses shape the local portfolio

21 of Charleston's 32 listed schools use NCES's combined or “other” grade-level classification. Citywide averages therefore blend campuses serving unusually broad or nonstandard grade spans with conventional elementary, middle, and high schools. Grade configuration is a first-order comparison here, not a minor label.

Governance mix is central to a fair comparison

8 of 32 listed Charleston campuses are reported as charters, so district-run and charter records occupy substantial shares of the same city view. They may follow different governance, enrollment, and program structures even when their mailing city matches. The 48-point gap between Carolina Voyager Charter and Charleston Advancement Academy High School should be read within that context, not as a single-system league table. Check charter status and district affiliation before comparing two nearby schools, and verify current admissions rules with the operator.

City enrollment
Top 8%
School count
Top 7%
Resource Index average
82nd percentile
Teacher staffing
61st percentile

Charleston school enrollment varies 39× across entities

Charleston school enrollment ranges from 53 students (lowest) to 2,069 students (highest), a spread of 2,016 students. That ratio is among the widest observed and reflects extreme heterogeneity inside a single city, with small specialty programs listed alongside large comprehensive campuses. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Charleston reports 54.6% free-lunch eligibility

The reported share clears the 50% majority mark. Title I operates under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), but its statutory allocation uses additional LEA-level counts and rules not represented by this average. This percentage is an economic-need context measure; it does not establish a Title I award, show dollars received, or describe how funds are distributed among campuses.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Charleston student-teacher ratio is 14.5:1 — near the typical range (US average ~15.7) — citywide staffing is neither unusually lean nor unusually crowded by this measure

student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Variation between sub-units within Charleston is typically wider than the Charleston-aggregate figure suggests.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe

8 of Charleston's 32 listed schools are charters

25% of the city's listed public-school campuses are reported as charter schools in NCES CCD. Charter status identifies a different governance arrangement; it does not establish admissions availability, academic quality, or the share of city students enrolled in those campuses. Open each school record to compare enrollment and staffing directly.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

# School Score
1. Carolina Voyager Charter 63
2. Charleston Development Academy 63
3. Buist Academy 61
4. Memminger Elementary 58
5. Charleston Charter School for Math and Science 57
6. Montessori Community School 56
7. James Island Charter High 55
8. Orange Grove Charter School 55
9. Murray-Lasaine Montessori 55
10. Mitchell Elementary 55
11. Pattison's Academy for Comprehensive Education 55
12. Daniel Island School 53
13. Camp Road Middle 53
14. Charleston Progressive 52
15. Springfield Elementary 51
16. Ashley River Creative Arts Elementary 51
17. James Simons Montessori 51
18. Simmons Pinckney Middle 51
19. Drayton Hall Elementary 47
20. Harbor View Elementary 47
21. Stiles Point Elementary 46
22. St. Andrew's School of Math and Science 45
23. Burke High 45
24. Stono Park Elementary 45
25. Philip Simmons High 42
26. West Ashley High 41
27. Oakland Elementary 41
28. C. E. Williams Middle School for Creative and Scientific Art 38
29. James Island Elementary 37
30. Compass Collegiate Academy 33
31. Sanders-Clyde Elementary 32
32. Charleston Advancement Academy High School 15

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Charleston

Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.

  1. 1 Pattison's Academy for Comprehensive Education 71.4/100
  2. 2 Springfield Elementary 71.3/100
  3. 3 Oakland Elementary 67.5/100
  4. 4 C. E. Williams Middle School for Creative and Scientific Art 66.7/100
  5. 5 West Ashley High 65.2/100

What do families ask about schools in Charleston?

Which Charleston school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

Carolina Voyager Charter has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Charleston schools in this federal-data comparison at 63/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Charleston, SC? ▼

Charleston has 32 public schools with a total enrollment of 19,674 students. 8 are charter schools. Average student-teacher ratio: 14.5:1.

Other Cities in South Carolina

Columbia
75 schools
Greenville
51 schools
North Charleston
30 schools
Spartanburg
29 schools
Rock Hill
27 schools
Summerville
26 schools

Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in South Carolina →

Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.