Summary:
Zip code 29926 is home to one public high school, Hilton Head Island High, which serves grades 9 through 12 and enrolls 1,265 students in the Beaufort 01 school district.
Hilton Head Island High is a solid, mid-tier school with a consistent 3-star state rating. Its graduation rate of 88.3% beats the state average of 86.7%, and its dropout rate of 1.4% is well below the state’s 2.1%. The school also keeps chronic absenteeism at 18.6%, which is better than both the district (21.3%) and state (22.3%). With a favorable student-teacher ratio of 13.1 to 1 and per-student spending of $15,480, the school invests heavily in student support. Academically, it shines in U.S. History, posting a 74.46% proficiency rate in 2025-2026—nearly 12 points above the state average—and also performs well in Algebra 1 (74.35% proficiency, above the state’s 73.95%). English 2 proficiency is strong and stable at 83.05%.
The main concern is English 1, where proficiency dropped from 68.27% to 60.58% in 2025-2026, falling below both the state (60.91%) and district (61.84%) averages. This contrasts sharply with the school’s excellent English 2 results, suggesting a possible 9th-grade transition issue. Also notable is a “ranking paradox”: while the school’s percentile rank has held steady at 62-63%, its absolute state rank slipped from 86th to 93rd as more schools were added to the state’s rankings. Overall, Hilton Head Island High offers strong graduation outcomes, low dropout rates, and standout performance in history and math, but families should be aware of the English 1 dip and the school’s mid-tier state standing.
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