Polaris Technical Charter School

Polaris Technical Charter School in Ridgeland, SC, is a K-12 public charter school serving 514 students within the School Public Charter School District, where nearly all students (99%) come from low-income households.

The most striking news is the school's dramatic turnaround in keeping students on track to graduate. In just one year, the graduation rate jumped from 47% to 95%—now exceeding both the district (77.4%) and state (86.7%) averages. The dropout rate also plummeted to just 0.6%, the lowest among nearby charter schools like Lowcountry Montessori School (4.3%) and Royal Live Oaks Academy of the Arts and Sciences Charter School (1.9%). Chronic absenteeism also fell from 36.9% to 19.7%, now below the state average. With a low student-teacher ratio of 11.6:1, the school appears to be providing strong support for student retention and completion.

However, academic proficiency tells a different story, especially in the lower grades. Math and science scores are critically low—for example, only 2.4% of 6th graders and 2.1% of 8th graders were proficient in math, compared to roughly 30-40% statewide. This is a stark contrast to Bridges Preparatory School, where 4th grade math proficiency is 71.6% versus Polaris's 15%. The high school shows more promise, particularly in English 2, where proficiency (84.45%) nearly matches the state average (86.41%). While the school spends efficiently ($11,890 per student) and excels at graduating students, the significant achievement gaps in core subjects—especially math and science—remain the biggest challenge for families to consider.