Charleston School of the Arts, North Charleston SC

Original Research by School Decision on Charleston School of the Arts

Charleston School of the Arts is a public magnet school in North Charleston that serves grades six through twelve under the Charleston 01 district. Its name signals its focus, and the school’s academic profile reflects that of a selective-admissions arts program attracting a motivated student body. The enrollment is moderate for its grade band, with each grade level carrying a similar count from sixth through twelfth grade. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial share of Black and Hispanic students and smaller groups of Asian, multiracial, and other backgrounds. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a lower share than is typical for the surrounding area.

State testing results place academic performance at a high level. In English language arts, across sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, the share of students scoring proficient or above is very high, with each grade level near or above nine in ten students meeting that benchmark. Mathematics results are also strong, with proficiency rates in each middle-grades level well above eight in ten. In science, the sixth-grade proficiency rate is also high. These results are drawn from the SC Ready assessments, and because the school serves middle grades within a larger arts-focused program, the numbers reflect a student population that has met an admissions screening. The data shows only one year of results for these subjects, so a trend line is not available.

A social studies score from 2018-19, the most recent available for that subject, showed a similarly high proficiency rate. That record is older and may not reflect current conditions.

The school operates as a regular public school, not a charter, and while its magnet status is not specified in the available data, its name and selective admissions nature are consistent with that model. Title I status was not reported, which is consistent with a school where relatively few students come from low-income households.

No information was available on discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, or course access, including Advanced Placement or dual-enrollment offerings. A parent may want to follow up directly with the school to understand those dimensions. Because the school includes high school grades, a graduation rate would normally be reported, but the data set did not include one. This is a gap a prospective family should ask about.

The comparison set for this school within Charleston County districts was too small to produce meaningful rankings, so no position relative to neighboring districts is available from this data.

North Charleston, where the school is located, is an industrial and suburban city spread across a large area. The city’s economy is anchored by Boeing’s aircraft assembly plant, Joint Base Charleston, and a mix of manufacturing and technology employers. Residential areas range from older neighborhoods near the former naval base to newer subdivisions. The city is car-dependent, with commercial corridors along major roads and no dense, walkable downtown core. Housing values and rents in the local area are moderate compared to national benchmarks, and the market has seen some softening in home values recently with rents continuing to rise.

For a family, this school fits a student who is focused on the arts and has cleared an admissions process. The peer environment is academically strong, and the middle-grade testing results are well above state averages. The school’s setting is not a typical neighborhood school; it draws from across the district, so a student’s commute may vary depending on where they live in the broader Charleston area. Parents should confirm the admissions process, available high school pathways, and graduation outcomes directly, as those details were not present in the data.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=95%Cohort of 153 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

241 schools plotted. 4 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 680%

School 80% · District 49% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 46 pts above state median · ▲ 47 pts above county median

Grade 788%

School 88% · District 49% · ▲ 39 pts above district

▲ 60 pts above state median · ▲ 61 pts above county median

Grade 885%

School 85% · District 45% · ▲ 40 pts above district

▲ 58 pts above state median · ▲ 53 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 694%

School 94% · District 63% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 793%

School 93% · District 65% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 895%

School 95% · District 64% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Science

Grade 681%

School 81% · District 55% · ▲ 26 pts above district

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 796%

School 96% · District 68% · ▲ 28 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

This schoolCharleston 01, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income89%Higher-income95%6 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income82%Higher-income96%14 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income76%Higher-income99%23 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income69%Higher-income84%15 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income82%Higher-income90%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income66%Higher-income89%23 pp gap