Best Private Schools in Charleston, SC – 2024
May 2, 2024
If you are raising kids in the Charleston, South Carolina area and find yourself considering private school, you are lucky to have a handful of quality options. For the teen in your family, selecting the right private high school will be of particular importance. Are you looking for a boarding school or day school? Are you looking for a school with a religious affiliation? How long of a commute will your teen have to and from school each day? Are you looking for a school strong in athletics or the arts? In the end, your decision will need to balance your teen’s academic, emotional, and social needs with financial and logistical considerations. However, College Transitions’ list of the Best Private Schools in Charleston, SC will focus primarily on our area of expertise—college admissions. As such, we will highlight the job that each of the schools does at sending their graduates on to the region/nation’s premier 4-year schools.
Best Private Schools in Charleston, South Carolina
Here’s a quick preview of the best private schools in Charleston, SC that made our list. Detailed profiles and stats can be found when you scroll below.
1) Porter-Gaud School
2) Ashley Hall School
3) Charleston Collegiate School
4) Pinewood Preparatory School
5) Bishop England High School
6) Palmetto Christian Academy
Please note that inclusion on our Best Private Schools in Charleston, SC list is a selective and criteria-based process. However, the order in which the schools appear is not representative of any further ranking; the numbering is solely intended to enhance the ease of navigating this resource. All of the schools profiled below have a history of sending graduates to the top colleges in the country. For each of the schools, College Transitions will provide you with the:
- Location
- Tuition (9-12)
- Enrollment (9-12)
- Average SAT Score
- Average ACT Score
- Senior Class Size
- College Admissions Highlights
- Academic Highlights
Porter-Gaud School – Charleston
- 300 ALBEMARLE RD. CHARLESTON, SC 29407
College Admissions Highlights: Over the past 4 years, students from Porter Gaud have gone onto study at these institutions of higher learning: American, Baylor, BC, BU, Brown, Bucknell, Cal Poly, Case Western, Columbia, Dartmouth, Davidson, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Howard, Johns Hokins, Middlebury, NYU, Northeastern, Penn State, Princeton, Tufts, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UChicago, UMichigan, UNC Chapel Hill, South Carolina, Villanova, VaTech, WashingtonU, and Wheaton.
Academic Highlights: 12:1 students to teacher ratio. 75% of faculty with advanced degrees. 21 AP courses. 2 National Merit semifinalist in 2024. 25+ athletic teams in high school with 20 state athletic titles in the last 5 years. 75% of students complete 7000+ hours of service. Extensive arts program including these performing arts: vocal/instrumental music, theatre, & dance; and these visual arts: traditional, ceramics, & digital design.
Ashley Hall School – Charleston
- 172 Rutledge Ave, Charleston, SC 29403
College Admissions Highlights: Ashley Hall’s class of 2023 were accepted these prestigious colleges and universities: Auburn, BU, Brandeis, Bucknell, Case Western, Clemson, Davidson, Cuke, Furman, Hobart & William Smith, Kenyon, Lafayette, Mercer, NC State, Northeastern, Oberlin, Penn State, Pepperdine, SCAD, Swarthmore, Syracuse, William & Mary, Tennessee, Tufts, UGA, UMiami, South Carolina, USC, UVA, VaTech, Wake Forest, and Washington & Lee.
Academic Highlights: Ashley Hall is an all girls institution. 32 nationally recognized scholastic arts & writing awards earned last year. 15 athletic teams who have 12 state championships & 17 runner-up victories in the past 5 years. 25 student-let clubs & societies. 40 countries visited through travel programs. Signature programs include: Offshore Leadership Program where students have a 10-day open water voyage & Summer Neuroscience Institute studying the human brain.
Charleston Collegiate School – Charleston
- 2024 Academy Rd, Johns Island, SC 29455
College Admissions Highlights: College matriculations and acceptances from 2020-2023 include these top colleges and universities: Bard, Belmont, BU, Clemson, Cornell, Denison, DePaul, Emory, Furman, Georgetown, Maine Maritime, Marquette, Michigan State, Princeton, SCAD, Sewanee, Texas A&M, The Citadel, UGA, UNC Chapel Hill, South Carolina, Tennessee, and UVA.
Academic Highlights: Charleston Collegiate has four pillars of education: project learning, arts & creativity, leadership through outdoor education, and financial literacy & entrepreneurship. Each student has 80 hours of community service by graduation. All students participate in an outdoor education program. Winterim experience allos students a change to study abroad, intern or volunteer. 85% of students participate in athletics.
Pinewood Preparatory School – Charleston
- 1114 Orangeburg Rd, Summerville, SC 29483
College Admissions Highlights: 97% of seniors enroll in four-year colleges such as these from the class of 2023: App State, Auburn, Bard, Baylor, Belmont, Cal Poly, Clemson, Colorado College, Embry-Riddle, Furman, UGA, Loyola Marymount, UMass, UMiami, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, SCAD, South Carolina, Stetson, Tennessee, Tulane, Vanderbilt, VaTech, and WestVa.
Academic Highlights: The student to faculty ration is 13:1 with an average class size of 14. 63% of faculty hold advanced degrees. 22% diversity in student body. 16 AP courses are offered with a 77% pass rate over the last 5 years. 72% participation of high schoolers in the 35 athletic teams. 72% participate in fine & performing arts. 30 academic teams & student organizations.
Bishop England High School – Charleston
- 363 Seven Farms Drive, Daniel Island, SC 29492
College Admissions Highlights: The class of 2023 have been accepted to over 100 universities and colleges such as: App State, Baylor, Belmont, Citadel, Clemson, Columbia, Cornell, Davidson, Drexel, Duquesne, FSU, Furman, GaTech, Harvard, Loyola, Northeastern, Penn State, Purdue, SMU, Tennessee, Tulane, UF, UGA, UMass, UMiami, Notre Dame, USF, Villanova, VaTech, and Wake Forest.
Academic Highlights: 16 AP courses with 90% pass rate for 2023. 1 national merit semifinalist in 2022. 2300+ canned goods donated during the 2022 annual food drive. 40 athletic teams with 17 student athletes committed to play in college since 2021. 30+ student clubs and organizations. Fine arts program includes choral, theatre, and visual.
Palmetto Christian Academy – Charleston
- 361 Egypt Rd, Mt Pleasant, SC 29464
College Admissions Highlights: 96% of graduates to on to pursue a 4 year degree. College and universities students have committed to in past years: Anderson Univ, Clemson, Coastal Carolina, Rochester Institute of Technology, UFlorida, Flagler Univ, High Point Univ, Univ of Tampa, Brevard, Liberty, UNC Greensboro, East Tennessee State, Penn State, and UMississippi.
Academic Highlights: Average class size is 17 students. 8 AP & 25 honors courses. Students complete 80 service hours. 79% of those who took AP exams in 2021-22 scored a 3 or higher. 27 JV & Varsity athletic teams for 13 sports. Fine arts are a priority at Palmetto Christian Academy, offering visual, chorus, band, & theatre. 12 student clubs/organizations.
Best Private Schools in Charleston – Additional Resources
We hope you found our blog on private schools in Charleston, SC to be helpful. All high school students and families may wish to explore further information regarding the college search and admissions process at our Dataverse, Blog, and List-Building Tool.
