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J. Paul Truluck Creative Arts and Science Magnet

Lake City · SC · Florence 03 · Public · K-12 combined

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📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 2 AP courses offered — Strong
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • ✅ Gifted & talented program
  • 🔢 1 calculus classes · 3 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 52th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 29% by test-taker volume

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

💡

How J. Paul Truluck Creative Arts and Science Magnet compares for families

Solid mid-tier academic profile.

  • StatewideAP rigor at the 52th percentile nationally with 2 AP courses.
  • LocallySC sits right at the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math — local school quality will set your kid apart.
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Lake City High, The Carolina Academy, New Prospect Fwb Church & Christian School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

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🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Strong — solid AP program + advanced courses

52th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
2
Math ✓
Advanced math classes
2
1 calculus · 1 advanced
Lab science classes
3
0 physics · 3 chemistry
Other rigor signals
✅ Dual-enrollment program
✅ Gifted/talented program

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).

SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

Bottom 29% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
27
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
12.1
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

🏛️ Federal Title I context

Lower-need school

Not Title I eligible (FRPL < 25%)

-0.8%
FRPL rate — % of students who qualify for the federal Free or Reduced-Price Lunch program. This is the underlying federal income-eligibility signal Title I designations are computed from (ESEA Sec. 1113).
0% (no FRPL) 35% TA · 40% Schoolwide 100% (universal FRPL)

<25% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Well below the Title I threshold; expect a higher-income student body on average.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
25.2%
Elevated above the national average (~16%). Worth understanding — chronic absence compounds into dropout risk, transfer-out risk, and revenue loss.
Students absent 15+ days
97
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the most reliable early indicator that a student will leave a school — either by transferring out, dropping out, or matriculating to a charter or private alternative. At this level, today's absentees become next year's enrollment loss and the year-after's revenue loss. For school leaders: an Enrollment Trend Audit traces this dynamic forward →

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
385:1
Around the US median. Counselors are stretched but functional.
Counselor FTE
1.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
28
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -7.3%/year, projecting from 2024's 385 students:

2025
357
2027
306
2029
263

≈ 122 fewer students by 2029 — a real revenue/relevance risk worth getting ahead of.

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue at risk

At $14,614 per student in district revenue, the 122 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $1,782,908/year in funding at risk.

District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.

Nearby high schools — the local competition

The closest high schools families here also consider, and where their enrollment is heading.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
Lake City High
Lake City
Public 1.0 492 -21.7%
The Carolina Academy
Lake City
Private 1.4 363 -2.4%
New Prospect Fwb Church & Christian School
Pamplico
Private 11.9 27
Hannah Pamplico High School
Pamplico
Public 13.2 332 -2.6%
Williamsburg Academy
Kingstree
Private 13.9 409 -2.9%
East Clarendon Middle-High
Turbeville
Public 14.4 413 +0.5%
Kingstree High
Kingstree
Public 15.4 681 -5.4%
South Florence High
Florence
Public 17.8 1,580 -2.7%

For Parents

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