High Schools in Barnwell

There are three high schools serving grades 9-12 in the Barnwell school district in South Carolina, a district that ranks in the bottom 13th percentile statewide with a 1-star rating, and these schools range in size from 140 to 557 students.

For parents, the most striking pattern is the advantage of smaller schools. Blackville-Hilda High, the smallest school with just 140 students, has an exceptional 8.7:1 student-teacher ratio—nearly half that of its peers—and it achieves the highest English proficiency scores in the district (57.57% in English 1 and 75.85% in English 2). In contrast, Barnwell High, the largest school with 557 students, posts the lowest English 1 scores (42.86%) despite having the best U.S. History results (58.52%). Williston-Elko High sits in the middle on size but has the lowest state ranking (13th percentile) and a weak 30.61% proficiency in U.S. History, even though it beats the district average in English 1.

Barnwell High also faces serious challenges beyond test scores. Its chronic absenteeism rate is 28.5%, well above the district's 20.6% and the state's 22.3%, and its state ranking has declined steadily from the 37th percentile in 2022-2023 to the 25th percentile now. Its graduation rate (80.3%) trails the state average by 6.4 points, and its dropout rate (3.7%) is nearly double the state's. All three schools fall below state averages in nearly every subject, and even the district's best English 1 performance (Blackville-Hilda at 57.57%) lags the state's 60.91%. While Barnwell High spends $15,013 per student, the outcomes suggest that smaller class sizes, as seen at Blackville-Hilda, may be a more effective lever for improvement than spending alone.