Our Schools
“One of the highest graduation rates in Mississippi”
“84% college bound – 20% over the national average”
“Over $26 million in scholarship offers”
These impressive high school accomplishments are a testament to the strong foundation laid by Hancock County elementary and middle schools, as well as preschool, child-care and families. County wide programs, like the recent Excel by 5 community designation, make it apparent that educational excellence has been wholeheartedly embraced as a core community value.
Here are just a few of our student accomplishments:
“25 students selected to participate in prestigious Duke University
“Talent Identification Program (TIP)”
“Students attain perfect MCT 2 scores”
“Students Take Prizes in Regional Science & Robotics Fairs”
More Choices for Parents – High Performing Public AND Private Schools
Hancock County is fortunate to be able to offer high-performing public, private, and parochial schools.
The public schools are represented by two school districts: the Bay-Waveland and Hancock County schools. The Bay-Waveland District is made up of two elementary schools, middle school, and a high school. The Hancock County District is made up of three elementary schools, a middle school, and one high school.
Private and parochial schools include Holy Trinity Catholic School, serving pre-K to sixth grade, Our Lady Academy, a grade 7 to 12 day school for young women, St. Stanislaus, a day and boarding school for young men, and Coast Episcopal School, serving pre-k to sixth grade.
Hancock County School District – www.hancock.k12.ms.us
Bay-Waveland School District – www.bwsd.org
Holy Trinity Catholic School – www.holytrinitycatholic.net
Our Lady Academy – www.ourladyacademy.com
St. Stanislaus – www.ststan.com
Coast Episcopal School– www.coastepiscopalschool.org
Learn from NASA & High Tech Employers
Few schools in the country can offer students the opportunity to work with NASA to create actual hardware for space vehicles or build underwater robots with Naval engineers. Yet Hancock County, as home to the unique federal and commercial “city” of Stennis Space Center and the new INFINITY Science Center, has many educational advantages.
In a program called HUNCH (High School Students United with NASA to Create Hardware), area high school students design, fabricate and make prototypes of hardware needed for space. Collaborating with NASA engineers and mentors, they also video-conference with other HUNCH peers around the country and leaders in this field.
Cathy and Duane Wilson, chemical engineers from Diamondhead, raised their children in the Hancock County school system. Their three girls excelled academically, served in class leadership positions, played sports and were in the gifted program. All three were named to the Hancock High School Hall of Fame and have gone on to college pursuing advanced degrees in fields like engineering and higher education.
“They say it takes a village to raise a child,” says Cathy. “We had a whole county working to make our children’s education the best that it could possibly be.”
Area high schools have also formed partnerships with NAVO, the Naval Research Lab and Rolls-Royce at Stennis. The Office of Naval Research’s SEAPERCH gives students the chance to build and operate underwater robots. Area employers like Dupont DeLisle, Sabic Plastics and other employers also offer programs in the Hancock schools from robotics to polymer science and composites.
INFINITY Designed to Inspire Children
INFINITY Science Center is the latest addition to the stellar list of educational opportunities available in Hancock County. The sleek, state-of-the-art learning center is packed with exhibits geared to excite and inspire students. With action-packed year-round and summer programs offering fun, hands-on experiments, INFINITY launches budding careers each day. A recent partnership with the University of Southern Mississippi will push STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) education beyond the stars in the coming years.
Superior Extracurricular Activities
Hancock County schools have produced multiple state championships and qualifiers in the areas of football, soccer, volleyball, baseball, cross country, swimming, track, golf, tennis, bowling, archery and sailing. All varsity athletic teams (in every sport!) at each of the high schools qualify as Scholar-Athlete Teams, with each player receiving a 3.0 or higher grade point average. Beyond athletics, students compete nationally in speech, debate, and dance, and all high school bands have earned superior ratings.