High Schools in Union 01

Union 01 is home to a single high school, Union County High, which serves grades 9 through 12 in Union, South Carolina, with an enrollment of 1,024 students.

For parents considering this area, the most important takeaway is that Union County High is facing significant challenges that have worsened over the past two years. The school’s state ranking has dropped sharply from 158th (33rd percentile, 2 stars) in 2023-2024 to 210th (14th percentile, 1 star) in 2025-2026. Academically, proficiency rates on end-of-course exams trail the state by roughly 7 to 21 percentage points across subjects. For example, in 2025-2026, only 44.8% of students were proficient in English 1 compared to 60.9% statewide, and U.S. History proficiency was 47.8% versus 62.6% statewide. The graduation rate stands at 83.6%, which is 3.1 points below the state average, while the dropout rate of 4.7% is more than double the state’s 2.1%.

Perhaps the most concerning metric is chronic absenteeism: 32.9% of students are chronically absent, meaning nearly one in three misses significant school days. This is 10.6 percentage points above the state average and likely a major driver of the academic struggles. The school does have a relative strength in English 2, where 68.6% of students are proficient, though this still lags the state by 15 points. Per-student spending is $12,963, which is not exceptionally low, but the student-teacher ratio of 21.3:1 is on the higher end, potentially limiting individualized support. Since Union County High is the only high school in the district, all district metrics mirror the school’s numbers exactly, meaning there are no other local schools to compare against. Improvement will need to come from within, with a clear focus on attendance and student engagement to reverse the downward trend.