While the format of the principal's annual report changed over time, the focus on academics that was reflected in the reports did not. This report from 1935-1936, the first year Little River High School was open, shows the school's enrollment, textbooks, teachers and their credentials, and courses that were taught. Little River High School had a robust curriculum for their first year, offering courses in English, French, Home Economics, Agriculture, Biology, Chemistry, Economics, Sociology, Algebra, History, Math, and Civics.

Many of the students of Little River High School were committed to furthering their education, both in North Carolina and further afield. In 1963, the Little River Hi-Tide published an article about three students who received scholarships to attend university. Joe Cates was the recipient of a $1,000 scholarship to Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama, Thelma Lunsford was awarded $600 to attend Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Betina Parker was awarded a $1,000 scholarship to Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

Science education increased in importance in the years following World War II, and Little River High School was afforded a larger budget in order to expand science equipment and laboratories for the students. This photograph shows a group of seven students hard at work on a project involving a circuit board. 

Students were committed to academic excellence as well, as evidenced by this editorial from Linda Bullock, editor of the Little River Hi-Tide in December of 1961. She recognizes that education is essential to their futures, and encourages her fellow students to take school attendance and academic attainment seriously. Ms. Bullock herself was recommended for pre-collegiate work during the selective Saturday School program at Bennett College in Greensboro. The commitment by teachers and students to ensuring that academic attainment was available and desirable was key in shaping Little River's tradition of excellence. 

Little River High School was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in 1959, followed by the elementary department of the school in 1961. This process for the elementary school followed a self-study of the elementary school by faculty and community members, which established a school improvement program. The elementary school was visited by accrediting officials from the Southern Association in November 1961, and received accreditation in December of that year.