Best Public Schools in Rock Hill, SC

Rock Hill, South Carolina is served by 27 schools—including 15 elementary, 5 middle, 4 high, and 3 alternative/charter schools—that collectively enroll about 17,000 students, with the majority belonging to the York 03 district, which holds a 3-star rating and ranks 30th out of 75 districts statewide.

For parents, the standout options are clear. Legion Collegiate Academy is the top-ranked high school in the city, sitting at the 87th percentile statewide with a 4-star rating, and it does so despite having the largest class sizes (20.5:1 student-teacher ratio). Among elementary schools, Cherry Park Elementary School of Language Immersion leads the pack at the 85th percentile with the lowest chronic absenteeism in the district (6.9%), while Mount Gallant Elementary is a close second at the 83rd percentile, with 5th-grade math proficiency 26 points above the district average. On the other end, Richmond Drive Elementary ranks in the 5th percentile statewide with a 0-star rating and a 29.4% chronic absenteeism rate, making it the most concerning school in the city. Rock Hill High, the city's largest school, has declined to the 51st percentile and now has the lowest graduation rate (80.8%) and highest dropout rate (5.3%) among traditional high schools—a stark contrast to Northwestern High, which has climbed to the 68th percentile with an 87.8% Algebra 1 proficiency rate.

Charter schools show a fascinating split: Riverwalk Academy and York Preparatory Academy boast near-perfect graduation rates (100% and 97.8%, respectively), but they lag traditional schools on EOCEP test scores. Meanwhile, all five traditional middle schools achieve Algebra 1 proficiency above 91%, with Saluda Trail Middle leading at 96.4%—far exceeding the state average of 74%. The district also shows a clear attendance-achievement link: the five schools with the lowest chronic absenteeism all rank in the top half of their categories, while the five with the highest absenteeism all rank in the bottom half. Notably, higher spending doesn't guarantee results—The Palmetto School spends $24,274 per student (the most in the district) yet has the worst absenteeism, while York Preparatory Academy spends just $11,308 and achieves excellent outcomes.