Best High Schools in Zip Code 29565

Zip code 29565, serving the Latta, South Carolina area, is home to exactly one high school, Latta High, a small school of 422 students in grades 9-12 within the Dillon 03 school district.

For parents considering this area, Latta High offers a close-knit environment with some notable strengths in student engagement. The school posts a graduation rate of 87.5%, slightly above the state average, and a dropout rate of just 1.7%, which is notably better than the state's 2.1%. Chronic absenteeism at 20.2% is also better than the state average of 22.3%, suggesting students are generally showing up and staying enrolled. However, the academic picture is more challenging. The school has seen a steady decline in its state ranking over three years, falling from the 65th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 41st percentile in 2025-2026, and its star rating has dropped from 3 stars to 2 stars. The most significant academic weakness is in mathematics; Algebra 1 proficiency sits at just 47.61%, a staggering 26 percentage points below the state average and nearly 20 points below the district average. This suggests a school-specific issue with math instruction rather than a district-wide problem.

Performance in other subjects is inconsistent. In the 2024-2025 school year, Latta High excelled in English 2 (91.42% proficient, well above the state) and U.S. History (66.31%, above the state), but English 1 consistently lagged by about 12 points. More concerning, all subjects saw significant year-over-year declines in 2025-2026, with English 2 dropping by over 9 points and U.S. History by nearly 9 points. With per-student spending of $11,917 and a student-teacher ratio of 17.5:1, the school has reasonable resources, yet the broad-based academic decline raises questions about how effectively those funds are being used. As the only high school in the zip code, its performance directly mirrors the district's, meaning its challenges are the district's challenges. While the school's strong student retention provides a solid foundation, the declining test scores and ranking signal an urgent need for targeted intervention, particularly in math.