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Darlington High

Public, Magnet Grades 9-12
211th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 235 South Carolina High Schools
Better than 10% of South Carolina high schools
Summary

Darlington High is a public high school in Darlington, South Carolina, serving 990 students in grades 9-12. The school faces significant challenges, with consistently lower academic performance, higher dropout rates, and chronic absenteeism issues compared to state and district averages.

Darlington High's proficiency rates on end-of-course exams are well below the state and district averages, particularly in subjects like Algebra 1, English 1, and U.S. History. The school's four-year graduation rate has ranged from 78.0% to 88.9% in recent years, lower than the state average, and its dropout rate has been higher as well. Chronic absenteeism is a major concern, with rates ranging from 22.5% to 33.1%, significantly higher than the state and district.

Interestingly, Darlington High is located just 1.89 miles from Mayo High for Math, Science & Technology, a highly-ranked magnet school that consistently outperforms Darlington High across all metrics. Additionally, Darlington High's performance varies significantly by student subgroup, and the school's statewide ranking has steadily declined over the past several years. While Darlington High is generally on par with or slightly outperforms other nearby high schools in the Darlington 01 district, it lags significantly behind the high-performing School for the Governor's School for Science and Mathematics.

965
Students ?
13.5
Student/teacher ratio ?
$18,259
Per pupil spending ?
100%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 525 Spring Street
       Darlington, SC  29532

(843) 398-5140

District: Darlington 01


Feeder schools for Darlington High:

Elementary:    Brockington Elementary
    J. L. Cain Elementary
    Pate Elementary
    Rosenwald Elementary
    More...
Middle:    Darlington Middle
Racial breakdown:

African American:
63.5%
White:
19.6%
Two or more races:
11.6%
more
 See top rated South Carolina high schools

 Compare Darlington High to nearby high schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Declining — 32nd percentile in 2015 → 10th in 2025
Worth a look
!Test scores below the South Carolina average (54% vs 71% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (10th percentile)
!Graduation rate below the South Carolina average (80% vs 87%)
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school54%
District avg63%
South Carolina avg71%
211th of 235
South Carolina public high schools ?
Bottom 10%▼ down 22 pts since 2015
From bottom 32% (2015) to bottom 10% (2025)
See the entire ranking list of South Carolina High Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
3rd of 4High Schools in the Darlington 01
47th of 75Darlington 01 among South Carolina districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202514.5211 of 23510.2%★☆☆☆☆
202414.5206 of 23512.3%★☆☆☆☆
202323.7176 of 23725.7%★☆☆☆☆
202222.7174 of 22623.0%★☆☆☆☆
202128.1154 of 22732.2%★★☆☆☆
201914.1193 of 22514.2%★☆☆☆☆
201814.9176 of 21618.5%★☆☆☆☆
20179.0204 of 2238.5%☆☆☆☆☆
201625.3177 of 23123.4%★☆☆☆☆
201532.2157 of 23232.3%★★☆☆☆
201435.2140 of 21033.3%★★☆☆☆
201338.7129 of 20336.5%★★☆☆☆
201226.9162 of 20219.8%★☆☆☆☆
201120.2168 of 19915.6%★☆☆☆☆
201018.5171 of 19914.1%★☆☆☆☆
200922.7166 of 18811.7%★☆☆☆☆
200831.0147 of 18520.5%★☆☆☆☆
200727.1178 of 1916.8%☆☆☆☆☆
200641.4156 of 19118.3%★☆☆☆☆
200540.5146 of 18721.9%★☆☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202530.8155 of 19420.1%★☆☆☆☆
202426.9158 of 19418.6%★☆☆☆☆
202338.1115 of 19942.2%★★☆☆☆
202239.4109 of 19042.6%★★☆☆☆
202145.589 of 17850.0%★★★☆☆
201926.8146 of 18420.7%★☆☆☆☆
201822.2154 of 18315.8%★☆☆☆☆

Disabled

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202522.3117 of 13915.8%★☆☆☆☆
202431.3108 of 14525.5%★☆☆☆☆
202327.5107 of 14124.1%★☆☆☆☆
202245.873 of 13947.5%★★☆☆☆
202143.769 of 11540.0%★★☆☆☆
201942.776 of 14346.9%★★☆☆☆
201841.377 of 13743.8%★★☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202516.9189 of 22516.0%★☆☆☆☆
202417.5188 of 22516.4%★☆☆☆☆
202317.4184 of 22317.5%★☆☆☆☆
202223.7177 of 22019.5%★☆☆☆☆
202124.5163 of 21323.5%★☆☆☆☆
201912.6189 of 21311.3%★☆☆☆☆
201813.6181 of 21013.8%★☆☆☆☆

Gifted and Talented

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202368.642 of 15673.1%★★★★☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202518.4194 of 22614.2%★☆☆☆☆
202419.4198 of 22913.5%★☆☆☆☆
202330.8154 of 22631.9%★★☆☆☆
202234.1145 of 22034.1%★★☆☆☆
202135.3135 of 21336.6%★★☆☆☆
201918.0187 of 21713.8%★☆☆☆☆
201817.8178 of 21416.8%★☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202511.9205 of 2248.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202413.6207 of 2289.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202328.4159 of 22930.6%★★☆☆☆
202225.0166 of 22425.9%★☆☆☆☆
202129.3144 of 21533.0%★★☆☆☆
201917.6177 of 21818.8%★☆☆☆☆
201815.9176 of 21317.4%★☆☆☆☆

Multi-racial

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202511.358 of 591.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202410.952 of 531.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202312.756 of 571.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20226.947 of 482.1%☆☆☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202512.1178 of 1969.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202419.3170 of 19613.3%★☆☆☆☆
202329.2145 of 19726.4%★☆☆☆☆
202227.0142 of 19226.0%★☆☆☆☆
202133.3128 of 18932.3%★★☆☆☆
201920.0154 of 19119.4%★☆☆☆☆
201820.7149 of 18519.5%★☆☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
Gifted and Talented (2023)73rd percentile+47 vs school
African American (2025)20th percentile+10 vs school
Female (2025)16th percentile+6 vs school
Disabled (2025)16th percentile+6 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)14th percentile+4 vs school
White (2025)9th percentile~ school
Male (2025)8th percentile~ school
Multi-racial (2025)2nd percentile-9 vs school
By subject vs South Carolina (2024-2025) ?
English 273%-14 vs state
Algebra 1/Mathematics for the Technologies 259%-15 vs state
English 143%-18 vs state
U.S. History and the Constitution41%-20 vs state

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Frequently Asked Questions about Darlington High

Students at Darlington High are 64% African American, 20% White, 12% Two or more races, 5% Hispanic.

In the 2024-25 school year, 965 students attended Darlington High.

Darlington High ranks in the bottom 10.2% of South Carolina high schools.

Darlington High is fed by the following schools:

Elementary : Brockington Elementary
Elementary : J. L. Cain Elementary
Elementary : Pate Elementary
Elementary : Rosenwald Elementary
Elementary : St. John's Elementary
Middle : Darlington Middle


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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.





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