Bishop England moves to Class AAA, Iron Horses stay in Class AA

The South Carolina High School League wrapped up its reclassification process last week, and locally, Bishop England will move from Class AAAA to AAA for the next two academic years, beginning with the 2026-27 school year. Philip Simmons, meanwhile, will remain at the Class AA level. 

The realignment process occurs in South Carolina every two academic years and is based on 45-day enrollment numbers from grades 9-11 and includes an out-of-zone multiplier for the second time. That multiplier counts each student who lives outside the school’s assigned attendance zone as three for total enrollment purposes. 

That multiplier moved Bishop England from Class AA to AAAA in the last reclassification. Some observers felt BE’s athletic success might suffer, playing in a region against much bigger schools. However, the Bishops won the Class AAAA Carlisle Cup for athletic success in 2025-26. 

Bishop England athletic director Bill Warren said the move to Class AAA makes sense because of travel. 

“We are pleased with the move to 3-A mainly due to the travel situations,” Warren said. “In 4-A, we currently have four region opponents in Beaufort county and one in Colleton County. In 3-A, we will have most opponents in Charleston County.” 

The Bishops are expected to be in a region that will include Hanahan High School, North Charleston, and Oceanside Collegiate. Current Region 6-AAAA foes Hilton Head and Beaufort appealed to join Bishop England in Class AAA but were denied. 

“We have had success, however, in 4-A, winning the 4-A Carlisle Cup last year, and we are doing well thus far in 25-26,” Warren said. “Last year, we had three state championship teams and six runners-up finishes. This year, we have two state championships thus far and three runners-up finishes. 

"Competing against schools of 1,800 and more has been a challenge. But our teams have adapted. Having 640 students, the move to 3-A helps us compete with schools that are not quite as large as 4-A but we really have 1-A numbers.” 

Things will remain the same at Philip Simmons, as the school is coming off the Class AA Carlisle Cup championship. 

“No, I wasn’t surprised at all," PSHS AD Dan Minkin said of his team remaining in Class AA. “During the last realignment, we were the 10th biggest Class AA school. With everything staying the same as far as the multiplier, having 14 out of the attendance zone students, the league making Class A even bigger, there was never a doubt we wouldn’t be at Class AA.” 

The Iron Horses had an impressive haul last year to win its second straight Carlisle Cup, winning four state championships  while claiming state runners-up in two other sports. The Iron Horses won 10 Region 6-AA championships. 

Another change in this biannual realignment is Class AAAAA will be one division after being broken up into two divisions the past two school years.