Andrews High

Andrews High in Andrews, SC, serves approximately 471 students in grades 9-12 within the Georgetown 01 school district, a rural community about 16-19 miles from its nearest comparable high schools.

Andrews High is currently facing significant challenges, ranking in the bottom 5% of South Carolina high schools with a zero-star rating for the 2025-2026 school year. This represents a steady decline over the past several years. The most pressing concern is chronic absenteeism, which sits at 31.2%—dramatically higher than the state average of 22.3% and well above nearby Carvers Bay Early College and Career High (22.3%) and Georgetown High (22.6%). The dropout rate of 3.8% is also nearly double the district and state averages. Academically, only 39.47% of students scored proficient on the Algebra 1 exam, compared to 82.52% at Kingstree High, and English 1 proficiency sits at just 26.62% versus the state average of 60.91%. Interestingly, English 2 proficiency jumps to 70.65%, a 44-point gap that is far larger than at comparison schools, suggesting something unique is happening in that subject area.

On a positive note, the school maintains a favorable student-teacher ratio of 10.7:1 and spends $17,959 per student—higher than Georgetown High's $16,482—yet these resources are not translating into outcomes. All student subgroups are performing in the bottom 15th percentile statewide, and outcomes for disabled students have collapsed to last place in the state. The comparison to Carvers Bay is particularly telling: both are rural, high-poverty schools in the same district, yet Carvers Bay achieves a higher graduation rate (88.8% vs. 85.8%), a dramatically lower dropout rate (0.3% vs. 3.8%), and better test scores across the board. This demonstrates that improvement is possible for a school with similar demographics, making the current trajectory at Andrews High particularly concerning and in need of immediate, comprehensive intervention.