Riverwalk Academy

Rock Hill · SC · SC Public Charter School District · Public charter · K-12 combined

Public 🏛 SC Public Charter School District →

Similar nearby schools

Most similar nearby schools

Lake Pointe Academy → Northwestern High → Applied Technology Center → Westminster Catawba Christian School-High → Westminster Catawba Christian School-Middle → York Preparatory Academy → New Hope Carolinas → Westminster Catawba Christian School →

📋 At a glance

Programs & features

✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
✅ Gifted & talented program

Academic signals

🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 22% of US high schools
📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 41% by test-taker volume

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

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How Riverwalk Academy compares for families

What families should know about Riverwalk Academy.

▸ 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 Pointe Academy, Northwestern High, Applied Technology Center and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

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SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

Bottom 41% by test-taker volume

SAT/ACT test-takers

11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test

Test-taking intensity

29.6

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.

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)

31.2%

Elevated — a quarter or more of teachers are in years 1-2. Often correlates with school instability.

% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)

31.2%

Elevated. Teacher absence directly affects classroom continuity and student outcomes.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

🏛️ Federal Title I context

Lower-need school

Not Title I eligible (FRPL < 25%)

-0.4%

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

4.8%

Below 10% — strong attendance culture. Chronic absence is a leading indicator of dropout and disengagement; a low rate signals families staying connected to the school.

Students absent 15+ days

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: A low chronic-absence rate is the cleanest school-level signal of strong family connection, classroom culture, and student engagement — all upstream drivers of enrollment stability. 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

755:1

Well above the US median — a real constraint on individualized college and course planning.

Counselor FTE

1.0

Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.

Teacher FTE

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 +8.3%/year, projecting from 2024's 755 students:

2025

818

2027

960

2029

1,126

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

Revenue upside

At $21,713 per student in district revenue, the 371 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $8,055,523/year in additional funding.

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.

School	Type	Miles	HS enrollment	Trend
Lake Pointe Academy Lake Wylie	Private	3.9	205	+17.8%
Northwestern High Rock Hill	Public	4.2	1,822	+4.8%
Applied Technology Center Rock Hill	Public	4.4	—	—
Westminster Catawba Christian School-High Rock Hill	Private	5.0	426	—
Westminster Catawba Christian School-Middle Rock Hill	Private	5.0	437	—
York Preparatory Academy Rock Hill	Public · charter	5.0	511	+2.6%
New Hope Carolinas Rock Hill	Private	5.4	128	-12.9%
Westminster Catawba Christian School Rock Hill	Private	5.6	416	—