January 12, 2007
Dave Pickren, Special to SCVarsity.com
The 45 Day enrollments from the South Carolina Department of Education were released earlier this month. These numbers will establish the class and region alignment for the 2008-2010 school years. Class 4A appears to have the most changes when the new realignment is announced later this spring.
The ADM is the average daily attendance at each of the high schools in South Carolina. To calculate a school's ADM, the number of students enrolled at the school is counted each day and then an average is computed.
These numbers represent the ADM through the first 45 of the current 2006-2007 school year. According to the SC High School League, these numbers will also be used to classify each school starting with the 2008 football season.
At first glance there is one trend that I notice while studying these numbers and comparing them to years past. The larger schools continue to grow at phenomenal rates while the rural smaller schools continue to lose students at an alarming rate.
The 10 fastest growing schools (Fall 2005 to Fall 2006)
School, Students Added
Woodmont, 437.6
Wando, 327.31
Carolina Forest, 325.26
Bluffton, 298.36
Byrnes, 286.22
Fort Dorchester, 278.8
Dorman, 274.43
Mauldin, 253.49
Hemingway, 248.4
Clover, 241.87
Woodmont is the fast growing school in South Carolina over the past year with almost 440 students added to the student body. Woodmont did receive a number of students from Hillcrest this year when the schools lines were redrawn in Greenville County. The area around Woodmont is growing rapidly and with a brand new school in Piedmont, SC the growth should continue. 3 years ago Woodmont was a Class 2A school and now ranks as the 51st largest school in the state.
The other schools on the list are all part of the metro areas of South Carolina. Each of the rapidly growing schools resides in one of the 5 largest metro area in the state.
On the other side of the spectrum are the schools that lost students this past year.
School, Students Lost
Northwestern, -578
Ridge View, -577
South Pointe, -369
North Charleston, -279
Rock Hill, -201
Darlington, -136
Eau Claire, -95.5
Lower Richland, -87.2
Lake City, -87.1
Hillcrest, -76.9
Northwestern, Rock Hill and Ridge View are only on this list due to the opening of new schools. All three schools will quickly compensate for the loss of these students to the new schools. The loss of students however will move both Northwestern and Ridge View out of Class 4A Division 1 to Division 2. South Pointe did not have the number of students that was projected to be there originally and the correction is seen with these numbers.
News and Notes from the Numbers
Blythewood won the 3A title this past year. The Bengals were placed in Class 3A based on projections. But in reality the Bengals should have been in 4A based on the real attendance numbers and will be realigned to 4A after next season
South Pointe on the other hand was projected as a 4A school but actual numbers place the school in 3A.
Four of the six largest schools in the state are located in Charleston suburbs, Summerville, Stratford, Fort Dorchester and Wando.
Of the 16 largest schools in the state, Only Gaffney is not located in a large metro area.
Starting with the 2008 playoffs, Byrnes will be guaranteed a spot in the Division 1 playoffs. The Rebels are now the 16th largest school in the state.
Five new schools are slated to be opened during the next realignment:
Nations Ford – The school will be located in York County taking students from Fort Mill, open in Fall 07
Ashley Ridge - Alleviate overcrowding at Summerville, open in 08 or 09
Canes Bay – Alleviate overcrowding at Stratford, open in 08 or 09
Jasper County – Dividing the county school into Ridgeland and West Hardeville High Schools, opening in Fall 07
Who is Up and Who is Down
Class 4A
The Trojans drop to Division 2 as a result of South Pointe opening. Byrnes and Spartanburg School District 5 is one of the fastest growing school systems in the state. The district will open 4 new schools next year and has opened seven new schools in the district over the past five years.
Class 4A
Up from Class 3A - Blythewood, Riverside, Pickens
Down to Class 3A- York, Lower Richland, Battery Creek
Pickens will without a doubt appeal to stay in 3A and I would bet that York will petition to stay in 4A with the other York County Schools. Lower Richland was once a Big 16 school and now will move to 3A.
The Diamonds will enjoy life in 3A against other Columbia area 3A schools.
Riverside will move to 4A for the first time and find natural rivals in Mauldin, Hillcrest and the Anderson schools.
Class 3A
Up to 3A from 2A – West Oak, Emerald, Southside, Chapman
Move down from 3A to 2A – Strom Thurmond, Stall, North Charleston
This could be the most interesting break down between 2A and 3A. Again it is very likely we will see a few appeals here. I would imagine that Emerald is very happy playing in Class 2A with the Newberry area schools.
Likewise Chapman would love to stay in 2A with the 5 other Spartanburg County 2A schools.
Strom Thurmond would be a power house in 2A and would like to be in the same region with county rival Silver Bluff. However 3A is attractive with the current set up for the Rebels. This one will be very interesting.
Class 2A
Jasper County will divide into 2 new schools next fall leaving one space in Class 1A. Green Sea Floyds has the numbers to move up into the largest class.
Class 1A
West Hardeeville and Ridgeland will be new to Class 1A in 2007. Thornwell will not field a team in 2007.
The 2006-2007 School Year – 45 Day Attendance Figures
Class 4A
1 SUMMERVILLE HI 3,371.16
2 DORMAN HIGH 3,159.43
3 WANDO HIGH 3,022.31
4 STRATFORD HIGH 2,865.33
5 SUMTER 2,531.91
6 FORT DORCHESTER HIGH 2,469.80
7 MAULDIN HI 2,393.49
8 LEXINGTON HI 2,357.78
9 Fort MILL HI 2,280.02
10 SPARTANBURG SR HI 2,206.00
11 HILLCREST SR HI 2,170.13
12 ROCK HILL HIGH 2,168.89
13 DUTCH FORK HIGH 2,105.04
14 GAFFNEY SR HIGH 2088.4
15 BOILING SPRINGS HI 2,077.93
16 BYRNES JAMES F 2,049.22
17 IRMO HI 2,043.73
18 WEST ASHLEY HIGH 2,040.71
19 SPRING VALLEY HI 1,896.29
20 NORTHWESTERN HIGH 1,865.18
21 GOOSE CREEK HI 1,803.13
22 COLLETON COUNTY HIGH 1,801.78
23 WHITE KNOLL HIGH 1,786.71
24 CLOVER HI 1,761.87
25 LANCASTER HI 1,749.71
26 WESTSIDE HI 1,745.09
27 Carolina Forest 1729.26
28 TL Hanna 1,726.38
29 GREENWOOD HIGH HI 1,703.29
30 WEST FLORENCE HI 1,691.38
31 RIDGE VIEW HIGH 1,680.58
32 AIKEN 1,676.29
33 SOUTH AIKEN HI 1,676.29
34 BEAUFORT HIGH 1,664.71
35 ORNGB WILKINSON SR 1,663.58
36 EASLEY HI 1,653.07
37 WREN 1,651.47
38 North Augusta 1608.42
39 BERKELEY SR HI 1,601.02
40 RICHLAND NORTHEAST HI 1,599.47
41 SOUTH FLORENCE HI 1,591.87
42 CONWAY HI 1,570.00
43 LAURENS 1560.29
44 BLYTHEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL 1,558.69
45 JAMES ISLAND CHARTER 1,511.24
46 RIVERSIDE HIGH 1,508.09
47 HARTSVILLE HIGH SCH 1,480.11
48 PICKENS HIGH SCH 1,479.24
Class 3A
49 LUGOFF ELGIN HI 1,476.24
50 YORK 1470.12
51 WOODMONT HIGH 1,448.60
52 LOWER RICHLAND HI 1,445.84
53 SOCASTEE HI SCHOOL 1,414.11
54 MARLBORO CO HIGH 1,390.49
55 BLUFFTON HIGH 1,375.36
56 WILSON SR HI 1,374.38
57 AIRPORT 1,373.98
58 BATTERY CREEK 1,369.38
59 CRESTWOOD 1,341.67
60 JL MANN 1,330.22
61 GREER HI 1,308.42
62 WADE HAMPTON 1,296.20
63 North MYRTLE BEACH 1,295.38
64 AC FLORA 1,289.64
65 EASTSIDE HI 1,287.27
66 MYRTLE BEACH HI 1,284.73
67 TRAVELERS REST HIGH 1,278.82
68 LAKEWOOD HIGH 1,277.31
69 GREENVILLE SR HI 1,267.22
70 ST JAMES HIGH 1,257.20
71 Brookland Cayce 1,255.16
72 MIDLAND VALLEY HIGH 1,238.00
73 DREHER HIGH SCH 1,218.60
74 BLUE RIDGE HI 1,195.11
75 CHAPIN HI 1,185.49
76 HILTON HEAD HIGH 1,175.58
77 DARLINGTON HIGH SCHOOL 1,171.89
78 BEREA HIGH 1,113.02
79 SOUTH POINTE HIGH 1,081.31
80 SENECA SR HI 1,063.58
81 BELTON HONEA PATH 1,059.82
82 LAKE MARION HIGH 1,056.47
83 Daniel 1032.4
84 CAMDEN HIGH SCHOOL 1,019.64
85 FAIRFIELD CENTRAL HIGH 1,015.71
86 CLINTON SR HI 1,014.40
87 LAKE CITY HI 1,010.87
88 SWANSEA HI 1,009.98
89 UNION HIGH SCHOOL 1,005.96
90 GEORGETOWN HIGH 1,002.96
91 CHESTER SR HI 990.42
92 CHAPMAN HI 983.78
93 WEST-OAK SR HIGH 977.38
94 EMERALD HIGH SCHOO 971
95 SOUTHSIDE 961.16
96 TIMBERLAND HIGH 948.29
Class 2A
97 WALHALLA SR HI 946.44
98 STROM THURMOND 941.76
99 STALL 936.33
100 PALMETTO HIGH 931.64
101 North CHARLESTON HIGH 931.51
102 DILLON HI 924.31
103 BROOME HI 917.96
104 BURKE HIGH 917.02
105 MANNING HI 910.33
106 EDISTO HI 905.07
107 Bishop England 900.00
108 KEENAN HIGH 898.76
109 CHERAW HIGH 887.36
110 GILBERT HI 883.44
111 JASPER COUNTY HIGH 876.02
112 SILVER BLUFF HI 856.78
113 KINGSTREE HI 854.69
114 EAU CLAIRE HIGH 841.51
115 LORIS HI 838.56
116 WOODRUFF HIGH 837.49
117 NEWBERRY HIGH 836.58
118 HANAHAN HI 831.64
119 MARION HI MATH,SCIENCE,& 829.64
120 PENDLETON HI HIGH 829.62
121 HAMPTON HI 809.76
122 COLUMBIA HIGH 788.84
123 LEE CENTRAL 763.76
124 BARNWELL 762.09
125 ANDREWS 753.91
126 PELION HIGH HI 752.29
127 GARRETT ACADEMY OF 736.27
128 CRESCENT HI 727.53
129 CAROLINA HI 715.82
130 WACCAMAW HIGH 713.6
131 WOODLAND HIGH SCHOOL 701.62
132 AYNOR 697.18
133 MID CAROLINA HI 678.69
134 LIBERTY HI 677.84
135 HEMINGWAY HI 671.4
136 BATESBURG-LEESVILLE HI 660.56
137 CHESNEE HI 652.91
138 Pageland CENTRAL HIGH 631.47
139 MULLINS 619.87
140 SALUDA HI 617.13
141 ABBEVILLE 608.38
142 ANDREW JACKSON 583.62
143 GREEN SEA FLOYDS 573.76
144 BLACKSBURG HI 572.49
Class 1A
145 BUFORD HIGH PREPATORY 565.56
146 ACADEMIC MAGNET 564.78
147 NORTH CENTRAL HI 557.22
148 C A JOHNSON 544.36
149 INDIAN LAND HIGH 530.2
150 WARE SHOALS HI 525.24
151 CARVERS BAY HIGH 520.82
152 C E MURRAY 519.82
153 CHESTERFIELD HIGH SCHOO 518.4
154 NINETY SIX HI 511.2
155 BAMBERG EHRHARDT 508
156 CALHOUN COUNTY HIGH 489.87
157 LANDRUM HIGH 479.58
158 CROSS HI 457.31
159 BAPTIST HILL 455.16
160 JOHNSONVILLE HI 449.96
161 ALLENDALE FAIRFAX 442.11
162 LATTA HIGH 441.51
163 LEWISVILLE HI 429.84
164 ESTILL HI 427.62
165 CREEK BRIDGE HIGH 388.22
166 HANNAH PAMPLICO HI 361.11
167 WAGENER-SALLEY HI 357.69
168 LAMAR HI 348.78
169 SCOTTS BRANCH HI 346.42
170 ST JOHNS HIGH 338.2
171 GREAT FALLS HIGH 331.16
172 HUNTER-KINARD-TYLER HIGH 329.69
173 LAKE VIEW HIGH SCHOOL 327.73
174 DENMARK OLAR HI 301.64
175 EAST CLARENDON HI 298.47
176 TIMMONSVILLE HIGH 297.31
177 MCBEE HIGH 296
178 WILLISTON ELKO HI 288.22
179 BLACKVILLE-HILDA HI 274.27
180 MCCORMICK HI 273.91
181 BRANCHVILLE HIGH 270.04
182 DIXIE HI SCHOOL 257.29
183 Whitmire 251.54
184 Ridge SPG MONETTA SCHOOL 249.00
185 CALHOUN FALLS HI 239.73
186 JONESVILLE HI 228
187 Bethune Bowman 225.00
188 NORTH 213
189 Christ Church 200
190 Fox Creek 200.00
191 Southside Christian 200.00
192 TAMASSEE-SALEM HIGH 193.11
193 LINCOLN HI 159.84
194 MILITARY MAGNET ACADEMY 145
195 LOCKHART SCHOOL 108.34
