Best Public Schools in Columbus, MS

Summary:

The city of Columbus, Mississippi is home to 13 schools across two school districts - the Lowndes County School District and the Columbus Municipal School District. The schools include 7 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 4 high schools, with no alternative schools in the data set.

The standout schools in the area are the Mississippi School for Math and Science, a top-ranked public magnet high school, and New Hope High School, a strong performer in the Lowndes County School District. These schools boast exceptional test scores and high proficiency rates in core subjects. In contrast, the schools in the Columbus Municipal School District generally underperform compared to the Lowndes County schools across various metrics, including test scores and student/teacher ratios.

A key concern across all schools in the data set is the consistently high chronic absenteeism rate of 23.9%, which is significantly above the state average. Additionally, many of the schools serve economically disadvantaged student populations, with several having 100% free/reduced lunch rates. While the data highlights some underperforming schools, it also identifies strong-performing institutions that could serve as models for improvement and best practices for the district and individual schools to address the challenges they face in improving educational outcomes for their students.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				MAAP English Language Arts (2025)						MAAP Mathematics (2025)						MAAP Algebra I (2025)	MAAP English II (2025)	MAAP Science (2025)		MAAP Biology (2025)	MAAP U.S. History1 (2025)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	MAAP English Language Arts 3rd Grade	MAAP English Language Arts 4th Grade	MAAP English Language Arts 5th Grade	MAAP English Language Arts 6th Grade	MAAP English Language Arts 7th Grade	MAAP English Language Arts 8th Grade	MAAP Mathematics 3rd Grade	MAAP Mathematics 4th Grade	MAAP Mathematics 5th Grade	MAAP Mathematics 6th Grade	MAAP Mathematics 7th Grade	MAAP Mathematics 8th Grade	MAAP Algebra I End of Course	MAAP English II End of Course	MAAP Science 5th Grade	MAAP Science 8th Grade	MAAP Biology End of Course	MAAP U.S. History1 End of Course	Total
Mississippi School For Math And Science	Public, Magnet	11-12	5th Ave South and MSCW Dr	Columbus	39701	Lowndes County	Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science	No	Yes	No	No	(662) 329-7672	240	26	9.2		131 (54.6%)	39 (16.3%)	13 (5.4%)	48 (20.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.3%)	99.7	1^st of 232 public high schools	99.6%		97.8	1^st of 228 public high schools	99.6%														100.0	100.0			100.0	98.1
Stokes Beard Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	311 Martin Luther King Dr	Columbus	39701	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7270	369	26	14.4	100.0%	6 (1.6%)	353 (95.7%)	3 (0.8%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.6%)	17.8	338^th of 383 public elementary schools	11.7%		21.3	320^th of 390 public elementary schools	17.9%	18	16.4	32.5	47.3				19.6	42.5	31.5						39.4				$11,893
Columbus High School	Public	9-12	215 Hemlock St	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7200	865	74	11.6	99.8%	18 (2.1%)	813 (94.0%)	23 (2.7%)	7 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.5%)	6.2	222^nd of 232 public high schools	4.3%		11.5	206^th of 228 public high schools	9.6%	16													38.4	17.9			33.3	48.5	$13,613
Cook Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	2217 7th Street N	Columbus	39701	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7180	415	29	14.2	99.8%	18 (4.3%)	358 (86.3%)	25 (6.0%)	6 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.9%)	23	313^th of 383 public elementary schools	18.3%		27.6	294^th of 390 public elementary schools	24.6%	19	34.8	33.4	36.5				21.5	44.4	42.3						40.4				$12,452
Fairview Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	225 Airline Road	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7140	244	16	15.4	99.6%	2 (0.8%)	239 (98.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.2%)	18.9	332^nd of 383 public elementary schools	13.3%		35.2	262^nd of 390 public elementary schools	32.8%	70	19.2	44.7	29.5				21.3	50.0	25.0						40.9				$12,216
Franklin Academy	Public	PK, KG-5	501 3rd Avenue N	Columbus	39701	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7150	231	17	13.9	100.0%	13 (5.6%)	195 (84.4%)	6 (2.6%)	6 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (4.8%)	27.9	286^th of 383 public elementary schools	25.3%		19.7	335^th of 390 public elementary schools	14.1%	49	13.3	31.0	40.5				31.1	51.7	35.1						67.5				$12,114
Sale Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	520 Warpath Road	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7260	290	18	16.4	100.0%	7 (2.4%)	271 (93.4%)	6 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.1%)	27.6	287^th of 383 public elementary schools	25.1%		26.9	297^th of 390 public elementary schools	23.8%	10	28.3	34.9	42.5				30.5	39.5	37.5						62.5				$12,394
McKellar Vocational Center	Public	9-12	810 N Browder Street	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7290	0	0	.0		0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Cmsd Alternative School	Public, Alternative	K-12	1425 10th Ave North	Columbus	39701	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	No	(662) 241-7250	0	0	.0		0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Columbus Middle School	Public	6-8	175 Hwy 373	Columbus	39705	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7300	597	51	11.6	99.7%	13 (2.2%)	556 (93.1%)	14 (2.3%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.0%)	12	244^th of 266 public middle schools	8.3%		12.6	240^th of 264 public middle schools	9.1%	4				21.1	15.1	20.4				26.8	23.9	23.8				27.7			$13,549
West Lowndes High School	Public	7-12	644 South Frontage Road	Columbus	39701	Lowndes County	Lowndes County School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 244-5070	206	27	7.6	98.5%	6 (2.9%)	196 (95.1%)	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	28.8	159^th of 232 public high schools	31.5%		22.5	180^th of 228 public high schools	21.1%	21					20.7	33.4					44.8	33.4	27.0	38.3		47.6	33.4	43.8	$20,230
New Hope Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	199 Enlow Road	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Lowndes County School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 244-4760	1,191	85	14.0	66.8%	603 (50.6%)	527 (44.2%)	13 (1.1%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (3.8%)	54.4	175^th of 383 public elementary schools	54.3%		52.7	187^th of 390 public elementary schools	52.1%	12	44.9	60.1	59.2				46.5	61.4	46.8						56.2				$10,482
New Hope High School	Public	9-12	2920 New Hope Road	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Lowndes County School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 244-4701	787	61	12.8	61.6%	394 (50.1%)	357 (45.4%)	10 (1.3%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	19 (2.4%)	70.3	73^rd of 232 public high schools	68.5%		48.4	128^th of 228 public high schools	43.9%	55													71.6	62.8			67.6	49.5	$12,236
New Hope Middle School	Public	6-8	3419 New Hope Rd	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Lowndes County School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 244-4740	604	46	13.1	68.5%	307 (50.8%)	258 (42.7%)	11 (1.8%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (4.0%)	56.6	119^th of 266 public middle schools	55.3%		68.5	75^th of 264 public middle schools	71.6%	44				39.7	38.0	41.0				49.7	62.0	51.0	95.8			51.9			$11,280
West Lowndes Elementary	Public	PK, KG-6	1000 Gilmer Wilburn Road	Columbus	39701	Lowndes County	Lowndes County School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 244-5050	276	25	11.1	98.6%	3 (1.1%)	268 (97.1%)	4 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	23.1	312^th of 383 public elementary schools	18.5%		43.4	225^th of 390 public elementary schools	42.3%	87	21.6	34.3	38.5	30.3			37.8	25.7	30.8	54.6					42.3				$15,813
Lowndes County Alternative School	Public, Alternative	PK, KG-12	3419 New Hope Road	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Lowndes County School District	No	No	No	No	(662) 244-5060	0	0	.0		0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Lowndes County Vocational Complex	Public	9-12	1085 Lehmberg Road	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Lowndes County School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 244-5038	0	0			0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)

Cities Near Columbus

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
West Point	10.4 mi	15
Caledonia	12.24 mi	3	8^th
Hamilton	14.45 mi	1
Starkville	16.12 mi	16
Crawford	20.21 mi	1

See the top MS Mississippi cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Mississippi Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.