State Report Cards Are In: HCS Celebrates Major Successes, Including Highest Graduation Rate on Reco
South Carolina schools receive descriptive overall ratings of Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average, and Unsatisfactory, based on a 100-point scale. Schools also receive ratings on key report card indicators, which contain information about schools and districts regarding how well students performed on state and national assessments, student growth, graduation rates, English language proficiency, and more. 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.
“This is an incredible moment for our district,” said HCS Superintendent Clifford Jones of the report card results. “Every ounce of hard work our staff has put into Rise With Reading and so many other areas is paying off. While we have much to celebrate, our work is not finished. These report cards show we’re not just stepping forward. We’re taking our best steps yet, and we’re just getting started!
The 2025-2026 report cards also contain school, local, state, and federal per-pupil expenditure data as part of federal accountability requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This includes the results from standardized tests such as SC READY, the End-of-Course Examination Program, and the SC Career Ready Test, which we’ve already shared. However, this year’s report cards include some highlights we haven’t shared yet!
- HCS’s on-time graduation rate rose to 91.8% in 2026, up from 89.6% in 2025 and outpacing the state’s 87.5%. This is the highest graduation rate the district has recorded since the current accountability system was put into place in 2018. Two schools — Early College High and Scholars Academy High — had 100% graduation rates.
- Of the HCS 2026 graduating cohort, 86.5% were identified as college- or career-ready. This is up 3.9 percentage points from last year’s 82.5%. HCS seniors outperformed their peers across the state with an average composite SAT score of 1037, 24 points higher than the state average composite of 1013.
- For the third year in a row, Scholars Academy High School was ranked the #1 high school in the state, with a report card score of 100%.
- Loris Middle School was recognized as one of South Carolina’s highest-growth schools based on their report card, increasing 14 points from last year’s score.
State report cards give communities an opportunity to learn how they can support students and schools, and they foster conversations that support continuous improvement.
“We invest in our communities by investing in their children,” said Horry County Board of Education chairman David Cox. “And we encourage our communities to invest in our students, too. These report cards give us a starting point for conversations about how best to do that.”
You can see previous HCS school report cards on our website or visit the South Carolina School Report Cards website to compare districts and view past school report cards.
About Horry County Schools
Horry County Schools is inspiring possibilities for student success through a broad range of unique teaching and learning opportunities.
Horry (pronounced O-Ree) County Schools is made up of 58 schools within nine attendance areas: Aynor, Carolina Forest, Conway, Green Sea Floyds, Loris, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Socastee, and St. James. Horry County Schools has more than 47,000 students and is South Carolina’s third-largest school district.
