| Hillgrove High School | |
| Principal: | Angela Stewart |
| Grades: | 9–12 |
| Motto: | "Soaring toward deliberate success in academics, the arts, and athletic achievement." |
| Streetaddress: | 4165 Luther Ward Road |
| State: | Georgia |
| Zipcode: | 30127 |
| Country: | United States |
| Campus: | Suburban |
| Enrollment: | 2,363 (2022-23)[1] |
| Teaching Staff: | 122.10 (FTE) |
| Ratio: | 19.35 |
| Colors: | Crimson and silver |
| Nickname: | Hawks |
Hillgrove High School is a public high school in Powder Springs, Georgia, United States, and is the fifteenth high school of the Cobb County School District. The school's mascot is the Hawk.[2]
Established in 2006, Hillgrove High School was built on 98acres. The land was donated by Harry Hill and Harriet Hargrove Hill to Young Harris College and then sold to the Cobb County Board of education, by the university. The Hills purchased the land in 1952 to raise cattle and Tennessee Walking Horses. The Hills give college scholarships to Hillgrove students who excel at their studies.
Hillgrove High is ranked roughly 32nd-33rd in top public high schools across the state of Georgia with a graduation rate of 94%.[3] [4] The school currently offers over twenty Advanced Placement courses with 55% student participation.[5] [3] The school also offers "Career Tech" pathways, CTAE courses including:
The Hillgrove High School Naval Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps has won numerous accolades and awards since its establishment in 2009 and commission in 2010.[6] The Orienteering Team has also won three state championships and was the national champion team in 2019, 2022, and 2023 (citation needed).
A small council of students from neighboring Cobb County schools met to choose Hillgrove's mascot, the hawk. This was chosen due to the many indigenous hawks living around the property upon which Hillgrove was built.[2] The school is home to various athletic teams.[7]
Hillgrove High School has many notable and accomplished Performing Arts programs, including its concert band, jazz band, marching band, orchestra, and drama program.
The 2024-25 Hillgrove Wind Symphony was accepted into and will be performing at UGA’s JanFest and Music For All’s National Concert Band Festival.
Under Director of Bands Jeremy Lumpkin, Hillgrove's Jazz Orchestra has become renowned state-wide, having played at the GMEA In-Service Conference in January 2023. The ensemble performed at the Essentially Ellington Nashville Regional in April 2023, and earned international recognition by earning an invitation to the 2023 Midwest Clinic.
The Hillgrove Jazz Orchestra has featured many great high school musicians in its three year history. Many of Hillgrove’s musicians are still very young, yet are prominent in local and regional music communities. Musicians set to perform at Hillgrove’s JEN conference performance in January (and therefore are still students at Hillgrove) are italicized.
The Hillgrove Marching Band has held a legacy of success since the school opened in 2006. Once under direction of Chris Ferrell and Patrick Erwin, the band is now under direction of Jeremy Lumpkin and Stephen Mattson. The band marched at the 75th Anniversary Parade of D-Day in 2019, and partnered with Kell High School to create Kellgrove, which competed and achieved second place in the Fayette County Marching Band Finals with their show
In 2023 the band competed at the Western Carolina University Tournament of Champions with their show Forew4rned and won the title of grand champions. The show featured soloists Brennan Rust on Clarinet, Will Sutherland on Alto Sax, Landon Hill on Alto Sax, Dex Kieffer on Tenor Sax, Oleg Tabor on Bari Sax, Evie Stallings as a character performer and Malcolm Thoms as a character performer. The show earned second place behind Whitewater HS at the Fayette County Finals due to a scandal involving a judge from Whitewater.
Hillgrove’s 2024 show, As the World Runs Dry, is set to premier at BOA UAB. The show will feature soloists/character performers Aizik Generao on Flugelhorn and Ethan Kimbrough on Euphonium, and is based on the movies Mad Max and Dune.
Since its inauguration in 2006, the Hillgrove High School orchestra program has become home to more than 150 student musicians across three ensembles. Together, these ensembles have gained national and international acclaim, performing in some of the most prestigious concert halls around the globe. Notable venues include Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Carnegie Hall in New York, as well as prestigious venues in China, France, and Iceland.
Hillgrove students have been selected to participate in prestigious musical ensemble experiences within the Georgia Youth Symphony, Emory Youth Symphony, Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, Atlanta Music Project, North Georgia Honor Orchestra, University of Georgia Honor Orchestra, GMEA District Honor Orchestra, and GMEA All-State Orchestra.Additionally, Hillgrove alumni have excelled in the musical arts, with graduates pursuing advanced studies at nationally and internationally renowned institutions. Among these institutions are Kennesaw State University, the University of Georgia, Schwob School of Music, Georgia State University, Florida State University, Middle Tennessee State University, Berklee College of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Peabody Conservatory, and the Royal Academy of Music.
Previously led by Dr. David Doke (2006-2024), the orchestra currently resides under the direction of Dr. Jacob M. Dakon.