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Horry County Schools’ performance on the 2026 state report cards, based on overall ratings, shows that 41 out of 52 district schools (78.8%) were rated as Excellent or Good. Of those, 19 schools were rated Excellent and 22 were rated Good, while 11 earned a score of Average. No HCS schools were rated Unsatisfactory. Early childhood, primary, alternative, and program schools do not receive SC state report cards and are also not included in this count. The state of South Carolina overall only had 52.3% of schools receive a rating of Excellent or Good. 

Congratulations to Jenna Guthinger from St. James High School! Jenna claimed 1st Place for the Girls, Class AAAA 100 Yard Breaststroke at the SC Swimming State Championship on Thursday, Oct. 8.

Congratulations to Jenna Guthinger from St. James High School! Jenna claimed 1st Place for the Girls, Class AAAA 100 Yard Butterfly at the SC Swimming State Championship on Thursday, Oct. 8.

HCS students have once again outperformed the state on their SAT scores, and also outperformed themselves from last year!

Horry County Schools has been awarded the South Carolina Reads Everywhere Innovation Grant and will serve as the lead applicant and fiscal agent for this five-district initiative focused on strengthening first-grade literacy achievement.

Congratulations to 14 of our schools on being awarded SC Distinguished Arts Program grants from the SC Dept. of Education!
This grant provides $18,000 to a school for one school year, which applicants use to purchase equipment, materials, and services that improve our students' experience in the arts.

The United Way of Horry County (UWHC) has given Conway Elementary Principal Maquitta Davis their Education Award for 2026, naming her a “mission-ready champion educator.”

UWHC’s Director of Education, Richard Williams, Jr., explained that this award celebrated 30 years of partnership and legacy, as well as the impact Ms. Davis has had on students and the community.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of 20 Horry County Schools students as Semifinalists in the 72nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These HCS students are among approximately 16,000 Semifinalists who have an opportunity to compete for nearly 6,700 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $24 million.

HCS Superintendent Clifford Jones is once again challenging students to read! If you haven’t already started logging pages on Beanstack, make sure you start soon because, for this year’s Superintendent’s Reading Challenge, HCS is partnering with the Bojangles Foundation to bring amazing prizes to our top readers!

Mr. Clifford Jones, Superintendent of Horry County Schools, will be holding “Conversation with Cliff” events throughout the school year. Mr. Jones wants to use these events to listen to the community’s ideas and concerns and to share news about the district with community members. These events are just one of many ways Mr. Jones hopes to connect with the community and listen, share, and learn to make Horry County Schools an even better district. 

Follow the link below to our Conversations with Cliff page for more information, dates, times, and locations. Hope to see you there!

U.S. News & World Report recently released its 2026-27 Best High Schools list, and HCS Scholars Academy High earned an exceptional rank!

This fall, Horry County Schools will become the first district in South Carolina to implement 3DE by Junior Achievement, a transformative project-based learning model launching at Conway High School and presented by Conway Medical Center. In a new op-ed, Superintendent Clifford Jones and Angel Malone, CEO of Junior Achievement of Greater South Carolina, discuss how the program connects classroom learning to real-world experience — pairing students with local and national businesses on case challenges that build critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills.

For another consecutive year, Horry County Schools students outperformed state averages on key academic benchmarks. According to results recently released by the South Carolina Department of Education, Horry County Schools students surpassed their peers statewide on three major measures during the past school year.

Discover HCS' plans to reduce screen-time and promote balanced, engaging learning experiences in our classrooms.

Taylor Sinkler, a 4th grade teacher at Daisy Elementary was named the 2027 Teacher of the Year on Tuesday, May 5, 2026.

Esther Yardumian-Smyth just couldn’t stay out of the classroom. After this HCS English teacher retired, she came back as a substitute and was recently named the 2026 Kelly Services National Substitute Teacher of the Year! 

This prestigious award recognizes schools that offer excellent instruction and outstanding leaders, augmented by strong family and community involvement and a supportive business community.

HCS is proud to announce the launch of our Presidential Leadership Partnership with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. The foundation offers a leadership simulation in which students won’t just learn about history, they’ll live it by taking on the roles of President Reagan, cabinet members, military leaders, and even the Press Corps to resolve an actual historical crisis: 1983’s Operation Urgent Fury.

Congratulations to Dee'on Bellamy, the Cafeteria Manager at Loris High School, our 2027 Support Staff of the Year!

Chosen from a distinguished group of site-level honorees and narrowed to five exceptional finalists, this recognition reflects a rigorous process that highlights dedication, professionalism, and meaningful impact across the district.

The 2027 HCS Support Staff of the Year was announced during our celebration and livestream on Tuesday, April 14.

Congratulations to Tabitha Barnes, an 8th grade social studies teacher at Ocean Bay Middle, our 2027 Rookie Teacher of the Year!

In just their first three years of teaching, our Rookie Teachers of the Year have shown remarkable dedication, passion, and promise in the profession.

The 2027 HCS Rookie Teacher of the Year was announced during our celebration and livestream on Thursday, March 26.

Our calendars for both the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 school years are now available on our Calendar page.