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Best Public Schools in Lancaster, SC

At a glance

Schools

9,085

Students

Top rankedVan Wyck Elementary79^th of 640 South Carolina elementary schools

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Biggest riser

Erwin Elementary up 50 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

South Middle 11.5 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

4★

3★

2★

1★

2 schools without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)

Compare South Carolina cities →See the top-ranked South Carolina schools →

Summary:

The city of Lancaster, South Carolina, is home to 14 schools, including 8 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, and 3 high schools. The data reveals a mix of high-performing and lower-performing schools within the district, with standout institutions like Indian Land High School and Buford Elementary School consistently ranking among the top schools in the state.

The top-performing high schools, such as Indian Land High and Buford High, boast impressive end-of-course exam proficiency rates in the 70-90% range, significantly outpacing the district and state averages. Similarly, the high-achieving elementary and middle schools, like Van Wyck Elementary and Buford Middle, excel in English Language Arts and Mathematics, with proficiency rates well above the district and state levels.

However, the data also reveals stark performance differences, with some schools, such as Lancaster High and Erwin Elementary, struggling to meet academic benchmarks. This disparity highlights the need for targeted interventions and support to ensure equitable educational outcomes for all students within the Lancaster 01 school district.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				SC READY English Language Arts (2025)						SC READY Mathematics (2025)						SC READY Science (2025)		EOCEP Algebra 1/Mathematics for the Technologies 2 (2025)	EOCEP English 1 (2025)	EOCEP U.S. History and the Constitution (2025)	EOCEP English 2 (2025)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	SC READY English Language Arts 3rd Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 4th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 5th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 6th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 7th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 8th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 3rd Grade	SC READY Mathematics 4th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 5th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 6th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 7th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 8th Grade	SC READY Science 4th Grade	SC READY Science 6th Grade	EOCEP Algebra 1/Mathematics for the Technologies 2 End of Course	EOCEP English 1 End of Course	EOCEP U.S. History and the Constitution End of Course	EOCEP English 2 End of Course	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel Spending from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel Spending from Federal Funds	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Personnel Spending from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Sub-total Spending from State and Local Funds
Buford Middle	Public	6-8	1890 North Rocky River Road	Lancaster	29720	Lancaster County	Lancaster 01	No	No	No	No	(803) 285-8473	374	29	12.8		292 (78.1%)	12 (3.2%)	55 (14.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (3.7%)	59.4	113^th of 320 public middle schools	64.7%		70.4	77^th of 325 public middle schools	76.3%	36				53.4	63.2	45.6				51.2	42.1	48.2		38.0	100.0				$14,477	$399	$124	$523	$11,964	$1,990	$13,954
Discovery Charter of Lancaster	Public, Charter	K-5	302 West Dunlap Street	Lancaster	29720	Lancaster County	Lancaster 01	Yes	No	No	No	(803) 285-8430	146	10	15.0		64 (43.8%)	47 (32.2%)	29 (19.9%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.4%)								(n/a)																			$13,257	$221	$236	$458	$10,385	$2,415	$12,800
Brooklyn Springs Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1637 Billings Drive	Lancaster	29720	Lancaster County	Lancaster 01	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 283-8471	398	30	13.3		93 (23.4%)	178 (44.7%)	107 (26.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (4.8%)	11.6	586^th of 640 public elementary schools	8.4%		9.9	602^nd of 638 public elementary schools	5.6%	16	45.9	30.1	28.1				49.2	23.8	17.6				9.5						$16,109	$1,541	$294	$1,835	$11,982	$2,292	$14,274
Buford Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1906 North Rocky River Road	Lancaster	29720	Lancaster County	Lancaster 01	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 286-0026	792	48	16.6		657 (83.0%)	46 (5.8%)	45 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	42 (5.3%)	85.1	85^th of 640 public elementary schools	86.7%		86.2	77^th of 638 public elementary schools	87.9%	8	80.1	71.3	68.0				88.9	80.6	70.7				62.8						$12,139	$574	$142	$715	$9,491	$1,933	$11,424
Clinton Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	110 Clinton School Road	Lancaster	29720	Lancaster County	Lancaster 01	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 285-5395	412	34	12.0		80 (19.4%)	238 (57.8%)	70 (17.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (5.8%)	13.5	575^th of 640 public elementary schools	10.2%		6.9	622^nd of 638 public elementary schools	2.5%	47	35.9	29.7	41.0				41.5	34.4	32.2				20.4						$17,848	$2,085	$575	$2,660	$12,212	$2,976	$15,188
Erwin Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1477 Locustwood Avenue	Lancaster	29720	Lancaster County	Lancaster 01	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 285-8484	418	32	13.1		130 (31.1%)	165 (39.5%)	88 (21.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (8.1%)	13.7	571^st of 640 public elementary schools	10.8%		7.3	621^st of 638 public elementary schools	2.7%	50	32.8	22.4	40.3				45.7	26.8	34.3				22.4						$16,705	$1,417	$656	$2,072	$12,178	$2,455	$14,633
McDonald Green Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2763 Lynwood Drive	Lancaster	29720	Lancaster County	Lancaster 01	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 285-7416	337	25	13.4		135 (40.1%)	125 (37.1%)	51 (15.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (7.4%)	49.1	313^th of 640 public elementary schools	51.1%		46.3	345^th of 638 public elementary schools	45.9%	32	42.8	60.0	58.6				41.3	63.1	62.1				49.3						$17,243	$1,194	$260	$1,454	$13,142	$2,648	$15,789
Indian Land High	Public	9-12	6100 Charlotte Hwy	Lancaster	29720	Lancaster County	Lancaster 01	No	No	No	No	(803) 286-8470	1,905	118	16.1		1,153 (60.5%)	292 (15.3%)	266 (14.0%)	93 (4.9%)	3 (0.2%)	2 (0.1%)	96 (5.0%)	78.5	27^th of 235 public high schools	88.5%		72.3	45^th of 235 public high schools	80.9%	18															78.9	78.1	80.9	92.2	$10,826	$328	$171	$499	$8,482	$1,846	$10,327
Lancaster High	Public	9-12	625 Woodland Drive	Lancaster	29720	Lancaster County	Lancaster 01	No	No	No	No	(803) 283-2001	1,390	88	15.8		348 (25.0%)	677 (48.7%)	303 (21.8%)	5 (0.4%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	54 (3.9%)	30.8	165^th of 235 public high schools	29.8%		17.2	198^th of 235 public high schools	15.7%	33															64.7	64.2	50.0	80.3	$12,645	$1,000	$283	$1,283	$9,255	$2,108	$11,363
A. R. Rucker Middle	Public	6-8	422 Old Dixie Road	Lancaster	29720	Lancaster County	Lancaster 01	No	No	No	No	(803) 416-8555	477	37	12.7		125 (26.2%)	240 (50.3%)	78 (16.4%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (6.3%)	15.4	277^th of 320 public middle schools	13.4%		18.6	267^th of 325 public middle schools	17.8%	10				33.1	41.9	39.1				20.3	12.8	10.9		27.2	96.2				$13,783	$1,276	$309	$1,585	$9,947	$2,250	$12,198
Buford High	Public	9-12	4290 Tabernacle Road	Lancaster	29720	Lancaster County	Lancaster 01	No	No	No	No	(803) 286-7068	532	45	11.8		454 (85.3%)	38 (7.1%)	22 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (3.0%)	63.3	67^th of 235 public high schools	71.5%		48.8	104^th of 235 public high schools	55.7%	37															73.0	87.0	71.6	86.5	$16,220	$416	$198	$614	$13,001	$2,605	$15,606
North Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1100 Roddey Drive	Lancaster	29720	Lancaster County	Lancaster 01	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 283-9918	645	43	15.0		191 (29.6%)	278 (43.1%)	121 (18.8%)	5 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (7.6%)	38.5	392^nd of 640 public elementary schools	38.8%		39.5	386^th of 638 public elementary schools	39.5%	6	60.6	37.3	55.5				58.5	38.3	44.4				39.4						$13,468	$799	$247	$1,046	$10,513	$1,909	$12,422
South Middle	Public	6-8	1551 Billings Drive	Lancaster	29720	Lancaster County	Lancaster 01	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 283-8416	439	38	11.5		99 (22.6%)	219 (49.9%)	99 (22.6%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (4.1%)	14.3	283^rd of 320 public middle schools	11.6%		11.9	299^th of 325 public middle schools	8.0%	16				24.8	43.5	26.6				20.3	21.2	10.5		25.1	94.1				$13,646	$933	$426	$1,359	$10,178	$2,108	$12,286
Lancaster County School District Career Center	Public	9-12	625 Normandy Road	Lancaster	29720	Lancaster County	Lancaster 01	No	No	No	No	(803) 289-4885	0	22	.0		0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Van Wyck Elementary	Public	PK, KG-4	4945 Charlotte Highway	Lancaster	29720	Lancaster County	Lancaster 01	No	No	No	No	(803) 313-6650	820	55	14.9		488 (59.5%)	102 (12.4%)	126 (15.4%)	45 (5.5%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (6.7%)	85.8	79^th of 640 public elementary schools	87.7%		80.1	121^st of 638 public elementary schools	81.0%	42	76.5	75.0					79.8	73.0					64.0						$12,373	$279	$234	$513	$10,141	$1,719	$11,859

Cities Near Lancaster

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Heath Springs	9.16 mi	1	134^th
Great Falls	11.73 mi	2	130^th
Richburg	12.72 mi	3	103^rd
Kershaw	13.11 mi	6	74^th
Rock Hill	16.13 mi	30	88^th

See the top SC South Carolina cities

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.