Fort Dorchester High, North Charleston: zone and report card

Last checked Oct. 12, 2026. Sources: the school’s website, about page, staff directory and bell schedule; Dorchester School District Two’s find my school page and 2026-27 calendar, and Dorchester County’s attendance zone lookup; the S.C. Department of Education’s 2024-25 report card data files; the federal NCES school directory; the South Carolina High School League’s 2026-28 reclassification; the Patriots’ athletics website.

Fort Dorchester High is a Dorchester School District Two high school on Patriot Boulevard and the zoned high school for the Dorchester County part of North Charleston, including Coosaw Creek and Wescott. “We proudly serve the town of North Charleston and the surrounding areas,” the school’s about page says. It earned an Excellent overall rating, with 71 points, on South Carolina’s 2024-25 report card.

Who to call

• Front office: 843-760-4450, 8500 Patriot Blvd.
• School website: fdhs.ddtwo.org
• Enrolling a new student: the district’s registration page; district office 843-873-2901
• Which school is my address zoned for? Dorchester County’s attendance zone lookup, linked from the district’s find my school page
• Buses: the Oakbrook bus dispatch center, 843-873-6196, then press 2, according to the district’s transportation page

Principal

Principal Mathis Burnette, according to the school’s staff directory. The athletic director is Taryn Floyd.

Enrollment and teachers

• State count: 2,344 students in the 2024-25 school year, according to the state’s report card data.
• Federal count: 2,301 students in the 2023-24 school year, with 137 full-time-equivalent teachers, according to the NCES directory. That is about 17 students per teacher.

The school says on its about page that it currently serves 2,348 students and is the third-largest high school in the district.

State report card

South Carolina rates every public school each year as Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average or Unsatisfactory. An Excellent rating means “school performance substantially exceeds the criteria to ensure all students meet the Profile of the SC Graduate,” according to the state’s report card site. The overall rating is built from indicators such as academic achievement, preparing for success, student progress, English learners’ progress and school climate, with graduation rate and college and career readiness added for high schools.

2024-25 rating: Excellent, 71 points. On the state’s high school scale, Excellent 67 to 100, Good 60 to 66, Average 51 to 59, Below Average 40 to 50 and Unsatisfactory 39 and below.

• Four-year graduation rate: 94.8% in 2025, after 95.5% in 2024 and 94.8% in 2023 (district: 91.4% in 2025)
• College or career ready: 84.6% of the 2025 graduating class (district: 82.7%)
• End-of-course tests, share scoring A, B or C: English 76.1%, Algebra 69.7%, Biology 57.2% and U.S. History 53.4%
• AP and dual enrollment: 16.3% of the 2025 graduating class met the state’s college-ready mark through AP exams and 7.8% through dual-enrollment courses

The full report card, with test results by group, teacher data, school safety and spending, is on the state’s SC School Report Cards site. The state publishes new ratings each fall.

Attendance zone

Check an address with Dorchester County’s attendance zone lookup, linked from the district’s find my school page. In the zone layers behind that lookup, the Fort Dorchester zone takes in the River Oaks Middle and Oakbrook Middle zones; its elementary zones are Eagle Nest, Windsor Hill Arts Infused, Fort Dorchester, Joseph R. Pye, Oakbrook and Dr. Eugene Sires. We did not find a published feeder list, so these pairings come from laying the county’s high, middle and elementary zone layers over each other.

The far western part of North Charleston in Dorchester County, which is largely undeveloped, falls in the Ashley Ridge High zone on the same lookup.

Calendar and school hours

Fort Dorchester follows Dorchester School District Two’s 2026-27 calendar. Coming dates from the district’s calendar:

• Wednesday, Oct. 28: early release, all schools
• Tuesday, Nov. 3: Election Day holiday
• Nov. 23-27: Thanksgiving break
• Friday, Dec. 18: half day, end of the first semester
• Dec. 21 to Jan. 1: winter break; Monday, Jan. 4, is a staff day with no students

School hours: 9:15 a.m. to 4 p.m., and 9:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. on early-release days, according to the school’s bell schedule.

About the school

The school says it was founded in 1992, “serving the easternmost communities of our district,” and has “consistently earned an ‘Excellent’ school report card rating for the past four assessed years.”

Sports and activities

Fort Dorchester is a Class 5A school in Region 5 for the South Carolina High School League’s 2026-28 classification, with Ashley Ridge, James Island, R.B. Stall, Stratford, Summerville and West Ashley, according to the SCHSL reclassification lookup.

The Patriots’ athletics website carries teams, schedules, tickets and sign-up steps.

Fall schedules and results are in our Friday night football guide and on our scoreboard.

More

• Dorchester School District Two’s find my school page
• Every public school in North Charleston, with zones and report cards
• Our North Charleston schools guide for the district calendars, enrollment and the school board

Frequently asked questions

What grades does Fort Dorchester serve?

Fort Dorchester serves ninth grade through 12th grade, according to the state’s 2024-25 report card.

What is Fort Dorchester’s school rating?

Fort Dorchester was rated Excellent, with 71 points, on South Carolina’s 2024-25 school report card, the latest the state has published.

Which middle schools feed Fort Dorchester High?

On Dorchester County’s attendance zone layers, the Fort Dorchester High zone takes in the River Oaks Middle and Oakbrook Middle zones.

What time does Fort Dorchester start?

The school day runs 9:15 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the school’s bell schedule.