Best High Schools in Hopkins, SC

Hopkins, South Carolina, is served by a single public high school, Lower Richland High, which enrolls 1,218 students in grades 9-12 within the Richland 01 school district.

For parents considering Lower Richland High, the most pressing concern is chronic absenteeism, which affects 32.9% of students—well above the state average of 22.3%. This likely contributes to the school's lower graduation rate (81.6% vs. 86.7% statewide) and higher dropout rate (4.0% vs. 2.1%). Academically, the school struggles most in 9th-grade coursework: only 29.3% of students are proficient in English 1 and 29.82% in U.S. History, both roughly 30 points below state averages. However, performance improves dramatically by 10th grade, with 77.77% proficiency in English 2, suggesting that students who persist through the early high school years find more success. The school's state ranking has also slipped from 188th to 225th out of 245 schools in one year, indicating instability.

Notably, Lower Richland High spends a substantial $17,494 per student and maintains a favorable 13.5:1 student-teacher ratio, yet these resources have not translated into strong outcomes. The school underperforms its own district across nearly every metric, even though Richland 01 itself ranks in the bottom third of South Carolina districts. The stark gap between English 1 and English 2 proficiency suggests that the critical intervention point is the freshman year—addressing attendance and providing targeted academic support early could help prevent students from falling behind or dropping out before they reach the more successful upper-level courses.