Ranked the No. 1 private school in all of Beaufort County, Hilton Head Prep has made its influence known far beyond the Lowcountry, ranking among the top private schools in South Carolina and the top 2.5% of schools across the country. Those numbers come from the respected school ranking site niche.com, which gave Hilton Head Prep an A-plus rating.
As the school celebrates its 60th anniversary, it celebrates the thread that has run throughout its history. The school tracks its evolution from Sea Pines Academy through its merger with May River Academy in 1985, and with Sea Pines Montessori Academy in 2025, seeing the rise of its arts and athletic programs and of groundbreaking initiatives like the Institute for Business and Innovation.
The enduring impact of Charles Fraser, and his uncanny ability to unlock the potential of the world around him, is one that has defined who we are as a community. Whereas those he worked with saw Hilton Head Island as potential timber land, he saw the resort community it could become. He saw Sea Pines as a place where development looked a little different, growing with reverence to the nature that surrounds it. Today, the Sea Pines Resort is not only a template that has been followed by developments the world over, it also stands apart as a world-caliber resort of distinction.
And when Fraser saw the potential to give his employees’ children the best possible education, he founded The Sea Pines Academy in 1965. Today, 60 years since that momentous occasion, even he might be surprised to see how far that school, now called Hilton Head Prep, has come.
“I always talk about this school as being a bit of a unicorn, because to have a national caliber independent prep school, right here on this idyllic island, is very unique,” said Head of School Paul Horgan. “And since the merger with Sea Pines Montessori, we can now offer this education to children from 15 months old through 12th grade.”
Theirs is a mission that asks how they can create students who better their community in whatever avenue they choose. And since Day One, the mission has been to give each student the advantage of an education that goes deeper, asks more of them, and rewards them with a level of development they won’t find anywhere else.
“A lot of education has become very transactional, in my opinion. But in a place like this, you’re getting a more transformational education. It provides very purposeful preparation for life beyond school, into college and into the workplace,” Horgan said. “These kids are being well prepared not only with academic excellence, but also for everything from their own personal finances to job interviews to how to present themselves professionally, how to communicate and collaborate … what you refer to as the ‘durable skills.’”
But beyond simply preparing students outside the boundaries of a curriculum, by ensuring that each child who graduates from Prep does so with the full suite of tools for building their own success, Prep has always been a place that views education holistically. The lessons students learn in the classroom at Prep are augmented by the lessons they learn on the stage, in the music room, and on the field.
“To truly prepare kids for college and beyond, they have to have experiences that put them in different situations, and our kids get involved in a lot of different things,” Horgan said. “It’s very common for an athlete to be in a play, or for a musician to be involved in the Institute for Business and Innovation and business competitions. Our quickly growing internship program here on the island is challenging their comfort zones and exposing them to real world experiences. In addition to that, service is an expectation for our students.”
The Institute for Business and Innovation is being led by Jeff Rehling, who came to Prep after 13 years on the faculty at USC’s Darla Moore School of Business. He came to bring the innovative vision to life and create a cutting-edge program that would better prepare students for college.
“This new program is committed to next generation business education through our curriculum, clubs, and competitions. But there is more to the institute than just our daily teaching and activities: One of our core pillars is engaging our community,” said Rehling, director of the Institute for Business and Innovation. “From our new Prepternship program, to guest speakers from the area, to field trips that visit different types of businesses and volunteer activities, we know our community is critical to Hilton Head Prep’s success in the future while at the same time we believe Prep is just as essential to the success of our community. It’s a win-win.”
This proactive footing, one that sees the job of preparing students for the real world as being something loftier than simply proving they can get top marks on tests, informs a holistic perspective that is guiding the school forward. As it looks beyond the future and into the next 60 years of its history, Hilton Head Prep will follow a consciously crafted road map already in place.
Their strategic plan, updated in the spring of 2024, lays out the school’s priorities for the next five years, from developing a future-facing campus to broadening their stance in the community and courting the very best faculty. But what this plan ultimately boils down to is a strategy that pushes forward Hilton Head Prep’s longstanding commitment to its students and their futures.
“The future is rapidly changing for these kids, and the best schools are going to think about the things they need to succeed in a world that is already taking a different shape in a lot of different ways,” Horgan said.
It’s a commitment that mirrors Fraser’s own when he first launched the academy, and like everything else at Hilton Head Prep, it’s a commitment that has only grown stronger.
“I think any of the founders of Sea Pines, seeing how Hilton Head Prep has turned into a national-caliber school, would be very excited,” Horgan said. “What we’ve done here enhances what Sea Pines is and what our community can offer. I can’t imagine a better place to grow up.”
