May River High, Bluffton: zone, report card and calendar

Last checked Oct. 12, 2026. Sources: the school’s website; the Beaufort County School District’s attendance zone maps, 2026-27 academic calendar and school choice page; the S.C. Department of Education’s 2024-25 report card and report card data files; and the federal NCES school directory; and the South Carolina High School League’s 2026-28 reclassification.

May River High is a Beaufort County School District high school at 601 New Riverside Road, the larger of the town’s two district high schools by enrollment. It earned a Good overall rating on South Carolina’s 2024-25 report card, with Excellent marks for its graduation rate and college and career readiness. The school’s website says its vision is that “every student will maximize their potential while positively contributing to their community.”

Who to call

• Front office: 843-836-4900, 601 New Riverside Road
• School website: mrhs.beaufortschools.net
• Enrolling a new student: register through the zoned school; the district’s registration page explains the steps. District office: 843-322-2300
• Which school is my address zoned for? the district’s attendance zone maps
• Buses: the district’s Bluffton area transportation supervisor, 843-706-8402, on the transportation page

Principal

Principal Carrie Carter, according to the school’s administration page, which says she became principal at the start of the 2026-27 school year after serving as an assistant principal at May River since 2019. The state’s 2024-25 report card lists KaRon L. Webb, the principal that year.

Enrollment and teachers

• State count: 1,731 students in the 2024-25 school year, according to the state’s report card.
• Federal count: 1,665 students in the 2023-24 school year, with 109 full-time-equivalent teachers, according to the NCES directory. That is about 15 students per teacher.

State report card

South Carolina rates every public school each year as Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average or Unsatisfactory. An Excellent rating means “school performance substantially exceeds the criteria to ensure all students meet the Profile of the SC Graduate,” according to the state’s report card site. The overall rating is built from indicators such as academic achievement, preparing for success, student progress, English learners’ progress and school climate, with graduation rate and college and career readiness added for high schools.

2024-25 rating: Good, 66 points. On the state’s high school scale, Excellent 67 to 100, Good 60 to 66, Average 51 to 59, Below Average 40 to 50 and Unsatisfactory 39 and below.

• Four-year graduation rate: 92.1% in 2025, after 91.1% in 2024 and 89.3% in 2023 (district: 89.3% in 2025)
• College or career ready: 88.1% of the 2025 graduating class (district: 85.3%)
• End-of-course tests, share scoring A, B or C: English 75.5%, Algebra 50.2%, Biology 45.1% and U.S. History 58.2%
• AP and dual enrollment: 23.9% of the 2025 graduating class met the state’s college-ready mark through AP exams and 32% through dual-enrollment courses

The full report card, with test results by group, teacher data, school safety and spending, is on the state’s SC School Report Cards site. The state publishes new ratings each fall.

Attendance zone

Check an address on the district’s high school zone map; the middle and elementary maps sit alongside it. May River High’s zone covers most of the town’s land area. On the district’s 2024-25 maps, the May River High zone takes in most of the H. E. McCracken Middle zone, much of the Bluffton Middle zone and all of the River Ridge Academy zone; at the elementary level it covers the Okatie and Pritchardville zones and the River Ridge zone.

The district says its maps are for reference only: Bluffton is growing fast, newer streets may not yet appear, and families should always confirm with the school. We did not find a published feeder list on the district’s site, so the pairings above come from laying the district’s elementary, middle and high school zone maps over each other.

The district is building a new May River Elementary for about 800 students on the May River High campus, under the 2023 bond referendum; it was in the construction phase as of August 2026, according to the district’s project report. The district has not posted a zone for it.

Calendar and school hours

May River High follows the district’s 2026-27 calendar. Coming dates from the academic calendar (PDF):

• Tuesday, Oct. 13: end of the first quarter
• Tuesday, Nov. 3: Election Day, no school
• Wednesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day, no school
• Nov. 25-27: Thanksgiving break
• Dec. 23 to Jan. 5: winter break; students return Wednesday, Jan. 6

School hours: 8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., according to the school’s website, which also posts a bell schedule.

Programs

The district lists these choice programs at May River High: AP Capstone, Cambridge AICE and Visual and Performing Arts. BCSD Choice programs let county families apply to a program at a school outside their zone; for 2026-27, applications were due Jan. 15, 2026, a lottery decides when a program has more applicants than seats, and the district does not provide buses to an out-of-zone choice school, according to the school choice page.

The school’s career and technical education project, a 14,000-square-foot expansion, a renovation of 14,000 square feet of existing space and a 6,000-square-foot JROTC addition, was in its closeout phase in August 2026, according to the district’s project report.

Sports and activities

May River is a Class 4A school in Region 6 for the South Carolina High School League’s 2026-28 classification, with Beaufort, Bluffton, Colleton County, Hilton Head Island and Lucy Beckham, according to the SCHSL reclassification lookup. Team schedules and rosters are on the Sharks’ athletics website.

Fall schedules and results are in our Friday night football guide and on our scoreboard.

More

• The school’s own website and the district’s project page for the school’s buildings
• Every public school in Bluffton, with zones and report cards
• Our Bluffton schools guide for the district calendar, enrollment and the school board

Frequently asked questions

What grades does May River High serve?

May River High serves ninth grade through 12th grade.

What is May River High’s school rating?

May River High was rated Good, with 66 points on South Carolina’s 2024-25 school report card, the latest the state has published.

Which schools feed May River High?

On the district’s 2024-25 zone maps, the May River High zone takes in most of the H. E. McCracken Middle zone, much of the Bluffton Middle zone and the River Ridge Academy zone, and the Okatie and Pritchardville elementary zones.

What time does May River High start?

The school day runs 8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., according to the school’s website.

How do I know if my address is zoned for May River High?

Check the Beaufort County School District’s attendance zone maps, then confirm with the school at 843-836-4900. The district says newer streets may not yet appear on the maps.