Best High Schools in Laurel, MS

The city of Laurel, Mississippi is home to three high schools: West Jones High School, Northeast Jones High School, and Laurel High School. These schools serve students in grades 9-12 and are part of the Jones County School District and the Laurel School District.

Among the three high schools, West Jones High School and Northeast Jones High School stand out as the top performers. West Jones High School is ranked 81st out of 232 Mississippi high schools and has a 3-star rating, while Northeast Jones High School is ranked 104th and also has a 3-star rating. Both schools consistently outperform the state and district averages in MAAP test scores, particularly in Mathematics and U.S. History. Additionally, they maintain relatively low student-teacher ratios of 14.3 and 10.3, respectively, and have higher four-year graduation rates of 89.4%.

In contrast, Laurel High School lags behind the other two schools in academic performance, with significantly lower proficiency rates in Algebra I, English II, Biology, and U.S. History compared to the state and district averages. Laurel High School also has the highest student-teacher ratio of 19.2 among the three schools. Additionally, all three high schools in the Laurel area face a concerning issue of high chronic absenteeism rates, which may be contributing to the performance disparities observed.