Summary:
Zip code 31525 in Brunswick, Georgia, is home to just one public high school, Coastal Plains High School, which serves grades 9 through 12 and operates under the specialized State Specialty Schools I- Coastal Plains High School district.
Coastal Plains High School serves a specialized, high-need student population, and its performance metrics reflect significant challenges across the board. The graduation rate is just 18.5%, compared to the state average of 87.2%, while the dropout rate of 20.7% is nearly nine times the state rate. Chronic absenteeism affects 52.8% of students, triple the statewide figure, which likely contributes to the academic struggles. On the 2025-2026 Milestones assessments, proficiency rates were 8.4% in Algebra I, 19.9% in Biology, and 17.0% in U.S. History—all well below state averages. The school’s state ranking has also declined over three years, from the 25th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 12th percentile in 2025-2026, and it currently holds a one-star rating.
Despite these outcomes, the school does invest more per student ($16,242) than typical Georgia districts and maintains a reasonable student-teacher ratio of 15.7:1. Interestingly, only 27.65% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, which is lower than expected given the performance data, suggesting the challenges may stem more from the specialized nature of the student body than economic disadvantage alone. Academic trends are mixed: Algebra I proficiency dropped sharply from 23.4% to 8.4% year-over-year, while Biology improved slightly from 18.4% to 19.9%. For parents considering this school, the data indicates that while resources and class sizes are adequate, the school faces substantial barriers related to attendance, engagement, and student completion that will require targeted interventions to improve outcomes.
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