Sylvan Hills High School is an accredited comprehensive public high school located in the city of Sherwood, Arkansas, United States, serving grades nine through twelve. Sylvan Hills is one of four high schools administered by the Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD).
In 2025–26, Sylvan Hills was ranked at No. 105 in the state and No. 6,217 in the U.S. News & World Report Best High Schools report.
, Sylvan Hills High's varsity sports teams have won 24 state championships across nine sports teams, primarily in baseball and girls’ track and field.
History Prior to 1956, Sylvan Hills School instructed students through grade nine until local citizens gathered to approve expanding the school to a senior high, resulting in its first graduating class in 1959. Then, because of the increasing population in the surrounding communities, the school moved to its current campus adjacent to its former facilities starting in the 1968–69 school year.
Early years (1928–1956)
In 1928, the first building of the Sylvan Hills School was built at 8900 Highway 107 for students in the 1st–9th grades that lived in the Sylvan Hills community. This building, which was known as "Roy Todd Hall," no longer stands. In December 1928, the newly created Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD) purchased two lots near the original building from Justin Matthews Sr., for $550 each. As Todd Hall could no longer accommodate the growing population of students, the PCSSD built a new building for students in the 5th–9th grades, named "J. H. Forby Hall," which opened in February 1930 at a cost of $26,542. This is equivalent to $ in present-day terms.. Forby Hall contained eight classrooms and a gymnasium. This is the building that is now the Sherwood First Church of the Nazarene, located at 8800 Highway 107 in Sherwood.
In 1948, a third school building was built and was named "Gertrude Price Hall." Mrs. Price was one of the first teachers at the Sylvan Hills School. Today, this building is now the home of the Retirement Centers of Arkansas, Inc.
Original campus (1956–1968) Established in 1956 to serve the nearby city of Sherwood and surrounding northeastern Pulaski County communities, Sylvan Hills High School was named after the early and heavily wooded community and to expand Sylvan Hills School, which previously served students from first through ninth grade. Between 1956 and 1959, students attended North Little Rock High School to graduate high school until the Sylvan Hills naturally expanded each year to accept students in the 10th, 11th and 12th grades. The complex that was completed in the fall of 1956 produced the first Sylvan Hills High School graduating class of 1959 consisted of 101 students with the baseball team making it to the state finals.
As the community grew population due, in part, to the 1955 development of the Little Rock Air Force Base in nearby Jacksonville, it became necessary to expand once again.
Current campus (1968–) In 1967, the Baldwin Company began construction on a new high school facility, which cost $1.25 million (or $ in present-day terms.) Along with $250,000 in furnishings (present day $)., the school consisted of 23 classrooms, a gymnasium and pressrooms, choir home, home economics department, cafeteria and a fully equipped library. In November 1968, 523 students and 32 staff moved into the present day Sylvan Hills High School, resulting in junior high students (grades 7–9) now occupying the older complex until 2011. Annexation of the combined high school, middle school and elementary campus locations from North Little Rock to the city of Sherwood occurred in 1976. Enrollment for 1976 shows 1,289 students at Sylvan Hills High School and 1,414 students attending Sylvan Hills Junior High School.
Since 1962 the school has been accredited by AdvancED and by 1965 the school won its first sports state championship in baseball. When North Pulaski High School was opened in 1977, the school board zones were redrawn, which subsequently has led to a natural rivalry between the two schools throughout the years. In the 1990s, the high school facility began serving grades 9–12, shifting the junior high to be renamed as Sylvan Hills Middle School for grades 6–8. In April 2008, the school suffered severe roof damage from a storm's high winds resulting in over $750,000 (present day $) in repairs. Following those repairs, the school dedicated the Jim Burgett Auditorium in honor of the school's musical director from 1967 to 1982. By 2011, major renovations had been completed to the school's gymnasium, bathrooms and the construction of a bridge to the practice field. Since the original construction, the school has added several smaller buildings, including the East and West buildings, the automotive shop facilities and has housed temporary buildings throughout the years based on changing student populations.
In fall 2011, a new campus facility for Sylvan Hills Middle School opened for grades 6–8 students and staff, replacing the original high school (1955–1968) / middle school (1968–2011) facilities located adjacent to the high school and Sylvan Hills Elementary School campus. Since 2011–12 school year, the high school has used the former middle school campus as a 9th grade academy.
The high school and its new middle school are feed by Sylvan Hills Elementary School, Oakbrooke Elementary School, Sherwood Elementary School, and the William J. Clinton Speech Communications and Technology Magnet Elementary School, which is a 2008 National Blue Ribbon School.
Addition of Sylvan Hills North / Junior High (2016–present) In 2016, PCSSD opened the Sylvan Hills Freshman Campus after the closure of Northwood Middle School, due to an over-expansion of 9th graders at the high school. The freshman campus is held on a portion of the former middle school campus. In 2018, it was announced that the 10th graders would also move to the freshman campus, as the main campus was being partially demolished to build a new, larger high school campus. Starting in fall 2021, the school became known as Sylvan Hills Junior High.
Recent expansions (2019–present)
Beginning in fall 2019, the school year began in a new three-story classroom expansion, which is now the main school building and has science labs, a new library/media center, cafeteria, and more than 30 classrooms in an environment designed by WER Architects/Planners. This will complete the $65M capital improvement and expansion of the SHHS campus. Three other buildings that are currently under construction and are scheduled to be complete within the next year. The Indoor Practice Facility (IPF) and the Multipurpose Arena opened August 2020. The Performing Arts Center opened in fall 2020 and holds 999 seats. In addition to the main building, several elements of the original campus are in use for the 2020–21 school year including: (1) Building 1 — the two-story, original main building used for various classes and 10th grade cafeteria; (2) Building 500 — which supports art, stagecraft and cosmetology classes; and (3) Engineering Building — a single story, 4–classroom annex.
Policy enforcement controversy In 2010, Sylvan Hills was the subject of legal controversy surrounding the confiscation of a student's cell phone by school officials. Sylvan Hills' administration officials were enforcing the PCSSD policy regarding cell phone use by students while in the classroom, which is a violation of the PCSSD Student Handbook. According to the district's handbook, such a violation allows officials to confiscate the phone for two weeks before returning the device. These actions eventually resulted in the lawsuit Koch v. Adams on the basis that the officials' actions resulted in conversion and trespass to chattels. The trial court dismissed the case, which subsequently led to the case being heard by the Arkansas Supreme Court, which by unanimous decision had upheld the school district's policy and the lower court's decision to allow such confiscation and that no violation of state or federal policy occurred. As school districts around the United States have similar policies regarding students' cell phone use in classrooms, this legal decision has been widely discussed in the education community.
Awards and recognition Since 1993, Sylvan Hills High School has been an institutional member of The College Board. In 2008, Sylvan Hills was recognized with an Arkansas Picturing America Award, NEH Picture America which is an initiative by the National Endowment for the Humanities that brings masterpieces of American art into classrooms and libraries nationwide.
A Sylvan Hills student was named one of Arkansas' top two youth volunteers for 2009 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for acts of voluntarism. The scholar was honored for mapping and compiling information on the 3,500 gravesites at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery located in North Little Rock. The awards program is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). In 2012, AdvancED recognized the school for maintaining 50 years of educational certification.
Guinness World Book of Records In 2024, nearly 3,000 students from kindergarten through 11th grades joined together, quite literally, to break the Guinness World Record for Longest Human Electric Circuit record. Students and staff from all eight schools in the Sylvan Hills feeder pattern attended the event along with local community members, and county school officials and board members.
Academics
Sylvan Hills is a closed campus; students are not allowed to leave school supervision during school hours. The school’s attendance boundary includes Sherwood, Gibson, and portions of McAlmont.
Enrollment Enrollment by year School Year Total Students Full-Time Equivalent Teachers Pupil/Teacher Ratio 2024–25 1,120 87.97 12.73 2023–24 1,061 87.71 12.10 2022–23 1,017 70.24 14.48 2021–22 1,003 68.37 14.67 2020–21 1,473 101.10 14.57 2019–20 1,428 150.09 9.51 2018–19 1,427 97.55 14.63 2017–18 1,437 96.27 14.77 2016–17 1,422 96.27 14.77 2015–16 1,265 76.14 16.61 2014–15 975 61.04 15.97 2013–14 870 57.36 15.17 2012–13 829 52.16 15.89 2011–12 807 56.04 14.40 2010–11 825 58.97 13.99 2009–10 809 69.50 11.64 2008–09 914 73.00 12.50 2007–08 919 69.00 13.30 2006–07 955 74.00 12.90 2005–06 1,018 73.00 13.90 2004–05 1,050 76.00 13.80 2003–04 1,156 73.00 15.80 2002–03 1,110 69.00 16.10 2001–02 1,055 70.00 15.10 2000–01 712 51.00 14.00 1999–00 727 57.00 12.80 1998–99 723 36.90 19.60 1997–98 785 46.40 16.90
As of the 2024–2025 school year, 1,120 students attended Sylvan Hills High School. Of these 2023–24 school year students, there were 406 sophomores, 355 juniors, and 299 seniors. The student body predominantly consisted of Black Americans (45.5%) and Caucasians (39.7%). Latinos (8%), Mixed students (5.8%), Asians (0.7%), and Native Americans (0.3%) made up the remainder of the student population. 41% of the student body were also noted as being economically disadvantaged.
As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,427 students and 97.55 classroom teachers (on full time equivalent (FTE) basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.63:1 The student population at Sylvan Hills is predominantly White and African American, with a small Hispanic and Latino American minority and other minorities. The attendance rate is 90.4 percent and the dropout rate is 0.9 percent for Sylvan Hills students. Forty-five percent of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch; the state average is 60 percent.
Sylvan Hills receives federal funding via the Title I "schoolwide program".
Curriculum