School District of Pickens County

The South Carolina Department of Education released the 2024–2025 School Report Cards today, highlighting continued academic growth and strong performance in the School District of Pickens County (SDPC). The South Carolina Report Card measures the progress of schools toward the goals of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate. These Report Cards, available at www.screportcards.com, reflect student performance, teacher qualifications, school climate, graduation rates, and overall academic success for the previous school year.

The School Report Cards, which are based on South Carolina’s education accountability system, are required for all elementary, middle, and high schools that receive overall ratings based on a 100-point scale. The report card assigns ratings of Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average, and Unsatisfactory. For the 2024-25 school year, all SDPC schools once again received ratings of “Average” or better.

This year, of the 22 SDPC schools measured, 7 SDPC schools were rated Excellent (an increase from 5 last year), 10 schools were rated Good (an increase from eight last year), and 5 schools were rated Average. No schools in the district received a Below Average or Unsatisfactory rating, continuing the district's trend of strong performance.

A rating of AVERAGE indicates that a school has met the criteria to ensure all students meet the Profile of a South Carolina Graduate. A GOOD rating is defined as school performance that exceeds this criteria, and an EXCELLENT rating indicates school performance that “substantially exceeds” the criteria to ensure all students meet the Profile of a South Carolina Graduate. This means that 17 of our schools earned Excellent or Good ratings — performance that exceeds or substantially exceeds state criteria.

District schools that received a rating of EXCELLENT are as follows: Ambler Elementary, Clemson Elementary, Dacusville Elementary, East End Elementary, McKissick Academy of Science and Technology, Liberty Middle School, and D.W. Daniel High School.

No SDPC schools were rated below the AVERAGE rating for the eighth consecutive year, indicating that ALL our schools meet the criteria to ensure students meet the Profile of a South Carolina Graduate. SDPC is the second-largest district in South Carolina with no schools rated Below Average or Unsatisfactory.

The district’s on-time graduation rate rose to 90.2% in 2025, a significant increase from 87.5% in 2024 – marking the highest overall graduation rate in SDPC history. In addition, Liberty High School’s graduation rate of 92.6% is a significant increase from 84.9% in 2023-2024, and is the highest rate the school has ever obtained - and the highest any high school in SDPC has ever achieved..

The on-time graduation rates for our SDPC high schools are as follows:

Here are some other highlights from this year’s report cards : 

• The on-time graduation rate for SDPC rose to 90.2% in 2025, compared to 87.5% in 2024 and 84.5% in 2023. This is the highest overall graduation rate the district has recorded since the current accountability system was put into place in 2018.

• The high schools’ ‘College/Career Readiness’ indicator increased from 77.7% in 2024 to 82.4% in 2025. This compares to the state average of 75.1%.

• The following schools increase one level in the rating for 2025, demonstrating improvement from 2023-2024: 

  • Easley High School, Liberty High School, Dacusville Elementary, Forest Acres Elementary, and McKissick Academy of Science and Technology.

• The following schools increased by two levels in the ratings for 2025, demonstrating a marked improvement from 2023-2024: 

  • Liberty Middle School and East End Elementary.

• In addition to academic growth and achievement, the SC School Report Card also measures School Climate based on staff, parent, and student surveys. The following schools received a rating of EXCELLENT in School Climate on this year’s Report Card:

  • Liberty High School, R.C. Edwards Middle School, Pickens Middle School, McKissick Academy of Science and Technology, Dacusville Elementary School, and Ambler Elementary School.

“These results are the product of a culture where joy and excellence work hand in hand,” said Dr. Danny Merck, SDPC Superintendent. “We’ve shown that remarkable academic success can happen when students and staff are supported, engaged, and inspired. Our teachers and leaders have created learning environments that balance rigor with joy — and this year’s record results prove that how we teach and learn matters just as much as the outcomes we achieve.”

A school-by-school listing of overall report card scores is below. School report cards can be reviewed in detail at screportcards.com. 

2025 School District of Pickens County Report Card Results