K-12 Education
With all systems go, students go farther.
Beyond blackboards. Beyond white boards. Beyond no child left behind.
With a wealth of uniquely powerful global resources Hancock County is propelling students beyond ordinary benchmarks.
Imagine students exploring the furthest reaches of space even as they explore the depth of their own talents and interests. Envision high school students working with NASA teams to build actual hardware for space vehicles; constructing underwater robots in collaboration with U.S. Naval engineers; winning awards with their own robotics, built with the help of Rolls-Royce North America engineers. What others might dream of, Hancock makes reality.
Hancock County students don’t just graduate college- and career-ready, they graduate worlds ahead with first-class academics, applied knowledge and next-generation experience. And while few school systems can claim to launch students on their college and career paths with the local help of NASA and other global leaders, NASA collaboration and support is only one of the life-changing advantages that Hancock’s K-12 educational assets provide the leaders of tomorrow.
In fact, in Hancock County, excellence begins literally at birth, in a community that has earned the prestigious “Excel by 5” designation for its focus on early childhood development between birth and age 5. Throughout their maturation here, children thrive in an atmosphere encouraging the achievement of all.
Multiple choice, superior settings: Two high-achieving public school districts, Bay-Waveland and Hancock County, offer a choice of settings and systems that have produced one of the state’s highest graduation rates, and a rate of college-bound students higher than the national average. Private options are also exemplary: Parents have two superb P-6 choices in Holy Trinity Catholic School and Coast Episcopal School; and for grades 7 through 12 the county’s two Catholic schools, Our Lady Academy day school for young women and St. Stanislaus, a day and boarding school for young men, have a combined history of academic achievement than spans more than 200 years. Across Hancock County, course offerings are diverse and deep, and extracurricular options range from all-sport varsity athletics to speech and debate to music and dance. Students graduate well rounded—and well on their way to lives of quality.
21st century laboratories for learning: Hancock’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) learning is rocket propelled through the HUNCH program and the INFINITY Science Center. HUNCH (High School Students United with NASA to Create Hardware) offers high school students the chance to design and build space vehicle hardware, while NASA’s $30 million INFINITY Center is a source of inspiration as well as information and deep learning for area students. Meanwhile ongoing partnerships with the University of Southern Mississippi are fostering new learning opportunities and support.
Diverse career paths designed for the global future: Hancock County is educating students today for tomorrow’s professional challenges, not only through higher standard academics such as Advanced Placement courses, but also through the more than 14 career pathways made possible by the Hancock County Career and Technical Center (HCCTC), where courses range from STEM classes to architectural drafting and design, from polymer science to metal fabrication, engineering to culinary arts. A strategic 2 + 2 collaborative program with Pearl River Community College (PRCC) provides HCCTC students with solid grades two years free tuition at PRCC.
Whatever the path, whatever the personal interest, Hancock County offers the resources and the drive to propel students to success. And with 21 community college and 30 universities within an hour’s drive, Hancock’s advanced education opportunities(LINK) assure higher early launches as well as enhanced life-long learning.