Summary
Beach High School is a large, traditional public high school in Savannah, GA, serving 973 students in grades 9 through 12 as part of the Savannah-Chatham County school district, where 85.2% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Beach High School tells a story of two very different trends. On one hand, the school has made remarkable progress in keeping students on track to earn a diploma. The graduation rate has climbed from 71.4% in 2021-2022 to 86.9% in 2024-2025, now nearly matching the state average of 87.2%. This improvement outpaces other traditional high schools in the district with similar demographics—Beach's graduation rate is higher than Johnson High School (84.1%), Jenkins High School (83.2%), and Groves High School (77.1%). Chronic absenteeism has also been cut nearly in half, dropping from 66.8% to 34.5% over the same period—though it remains more than double the district average of 16.6%. On the other hand, academic proficiency on state End of Course exams remains significantly below district and state averages. For example, only 18.8% of students are proficient in Biology, compared to 42.4% in the district and 47.2% statewide. However, Beach's Algebra I proficiency rate of 24.6% is the highest among its peer schools (Johnson: 14.9%, Jenkins: 18.3%, Groves: 10.3%).
Within its cohort of similar open-enrollment high schools, Beach is a relative leader, even as it lags behind the district's selective magnet and charter schools like Savannah Arts Academy and Savannah Early College High School, which serve far fewer economically disadvantaged students and post proficiency rates of 70-90%. The school spends $17,542 per student—higher than Groves ($14,705) and Jenkins ($15,993)—and maintains a favorable student-teacher ratio of 14.8:1. Notably, Beach performs relatively better with its Hispanic student population, ranking in the 40th percentile statewide, suggesting certain strategies may be working well for that group and could be expanded. While test scores remain a challenge, the strong upward trend in graduation and attendance offers a hopeful sign for families considering this school.
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