More than 350 South Carolina schools are being celebrated for academic excellence after the state Department of Education announced its 2024-25 Palmetto Gold and Silver Award winners, and Fort Mill School District is among the top performers on the list with 17 campuses honored.
Of the 17 recognized Fort Mill schools, 13 earned the Palmetto Gold designation and four received the Palmetto Silver award. The honors span elementary, middle, and high school campuses, reflecting district-wide results that place Fort Mill among the strongest showings of any traditional public school district in the state.
State Superintendent Ellen Weaver praised the honorees in announcing the awards. “The Palmetto Gold and Silver awards recognize strong, measurable growth in student achievement and celebrate the hard work of educators and students alike,” Weaver said. “We congratulate these schools on striving for excellence and delivering impressive results for their students.”
The awards program was established by the Education Accountability Act of 1998 and amended in 2008 to include recognition for closing achievement gaps between student groups. Statewide, 378 schools earned recognition this year.
For elementary and middle schools, Gold status requires a combination of Excellent Academic Achievement and Excellent or Good Student Progress, or Good Academic Achievement paired with Excellent Student Progress. Silver status recognizes schools posting Good Academic Achievement and Good Student Progress, or Excellent Achievement paired with Average Progress, among other qualifying combinations.
High schools are evaluated differently, as the state accountability system does not measure student growth at that level. Instead, high schools are judged on Academic Achievement, Graduation Rate, College and Career Readiness, and Preparing for Success. Gold-designated high schools must earn Excellent on at least three of those four indicators with no rating below Good on the fourth, and must carry an overall report card rating of Excellent or Good.
All three of Fort Mill’s traditional high schools earned Gold designations. Fort Mill High School, Nation Ford High School, and Catawba Ridge High School each posted Excellent marks across academic achievement, graduation rate, and college and career readiness, meeting the state’s standard of Excellent on at least three of the four high school indicators with no rating below Good on the fourth.
Fort Mill’s Gold high schools:
- Fort Mill High School
- Nation Ford High School
- Catawba Ridge High School
At the middle school level, Fort Mill placed six campuses in the Gold column. Gold Hill Middle School, with a poverty index of 13.1, and Forest Creek Middle School, at 15.2, both earned Excellent ratings in achievement and progress, standing out even among a strong group of honorees.
Fort Mill’s Gold middle schools:
- Fort Mill Middle School
- Gold Hill Middle School
- Springfield Middle School
- Banks Trail Middle School
- Pleasant Knoll Middle School
- Forest Creek Middle School
Four Fort Mill elementary schools earned Gold. River Trail Elementary posted Excellent ratings in every measured category and carried the district’s lowest poverty index among recognized elementary schools at 13.4.
Fort Mill’s Gold elementary schools:
- Gold Hill Elementary School
- Springfield Elementary School
- River Trail Elementary School
- Kings Town Elementary School
Four Fort Mill elementary campuses received Silver recognition. Riverview Elementary and Tega Cay Elementary both earned Excellent marks in academic achievement despite their Silver overall ratings, a result of Average Student Progress scores that placed them just outside Gold criteria.
Fort Mill’s Silver schools:
- Riverview Elementary School
- Pleasant Knoll Elementary School
- Sugar Creek Elementary School
- Tega Cay Elementary School
The full list of 2024-25 Palmetto Gold and Silver recipients is available here.
