Summary
Timberland High in Saint Stephen, SC, serves approximately 718 students in grades 9-12 as part of the Berkeley 01 school district, and it has seen its statewide ranking decline from the 40th percentile to the 18th percentile over the past several years.
For parents, the most important thing to know is that Timberland High is currently the lowest-performing high school in its district, with academic proficiency rates that trail nearby schools by significant margins. For example, in Algebra 1, only 44.6% of Timberland students scored proficient, compared to 62.4% at Berkeley High and an impressive 84.0% at Cross High—a gap of nearly 40 percentage points. Similar gaps exist in English 1 and U.S. History. The school also struggles with chronic absenteeism, with 32.2% of students missing significant school time in 2024-2025, well above the district (23.9%) and state (22.3%) averages. While this is a major improvement from the 47.6% rate two years earlier, it remains a serious concern that likely contributes to lower academic performance.
There are some positive signs worth noting. Timberland's graduation rate improved to 85.9% in 2024-2025, essentially matching district and state averages, and the dropout rate fell to just 1.3%—now better than the state average. Additionally, students performed remarkably well on the English 2 assessment, with 81.1% scoring proficient, nearly matching the state average. However, the school spends more per student ($16,643) than Berkeley High ($12,313) yet achieves lower results, and it has larger class sizes (16.3:1 student-teacher ratio) than Cross High (9.4:1), which achieves far better outcomes. The strong English 2 results suggest the school has effective instructional practices in some areas, but broader, systemic changes may be needed to improve outcomes across all subjects.
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