Best Public Schools in Tupelo, MS

Summary:

The Tupelo Public School District in Mississippi serves 12 schools, including 9 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 1 high school. The district as a whole is ranked 45 out of 130 school districts in the state and is rated 3 out of 5 stars by SchoolDigger.

Within the district, a few schools stand out. Tupelo Middle School ranks 61 out of 266 middle schools in Mississippi and has a 4-star rating, with strong test scores in English Language Arts and Mathematics. Lawndale Elementary School ranks 142 out of 383 elementary schools and has a 3-star rating, with particularly high 5th-grade performance in English Language Arts and Science. Pierce Street Elementary School also ranks 182 out of 383 elementary schools and has a 3-star rating, with high 5th-grade scores in English Language Arts and Science.

However, the district faces significant challenges, with a uniformly high chronic absenteeism rate of 23.9% across all schools and a wide range of free/reduced lunch rates, from 59.4% at Tupelo High School to 77.6% at Parkway Elementary. Academic performance also varies widely, with large gaps between the highest and lowest performing schools, especially at the elementary level. Despite these challenges, the data highlights potential bright spots that could inform strategies for districtwide improvement.

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
Lee County Career & Technical School	Public	9-12	221 Honeycomb Way	Tupelo	38801	Lee County	Lee County	No	No	No	No	(662) 432-1090	0	0	.0		0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Tupelo Middle School	Public	7-8	1009 Varsity Drive	Tupelo	38801	Lee County	Tupelo Public School District	No	No	No	No	(662) 840-8780	1,070	77	13.9	67.0%	344 (32.1%)	565 (52.8%)	100 (9.3%)	34 (3.2%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (2.4%)	74.8	61^st of 266 public middle schools	77.1%		78.3	51^st of 264 public middle schools	80.7%	10					44.0	48.9					65.4	59.7	100.0			61.7			$10,592
Joyner Elementary School	Public	K-2	1201 Joyner Avenue	Tupelo	38804	Lee County	Tupelo Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 841-8900	444	32	14.0	71.8%	124 (27.9%)	226 (50.9%)	48 (10.8%)	6 (1.4%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	37 (8.3%)								(n/a)																			$12,635
Lawhon Elementary School	Public	2-5	140 Lake Street	Tupelo	38804	Lee County	Tupelo Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 841-8910	575	40	14.3	75.0%	165 (28.7%)	326 (56.7%)	44 (7.7%)	19 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (3.7%)	49.4	194^th of 383 public elementary schools	49.3%		51.7	196^th of 390 public elementary schools	49.7%	2	41.5	52.6	49.2				47.9	46.0	50.7						68.6				$12,326
Pierce Street Elementary School	Public	3-5	1008 Pierce Street	Tupelo	38801	Lee County	Tupelo Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 841-8940	345	31	11.2	66.4%	115 (33.3%)	177 (51.3%)	36 (10.4%)	7 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	9 (2.6%)	52.8	182^nd of 383 public elementary schools	52.5%		59.3	156^th of 390 public elementary schools	60.0%	26	40.8	53.1	64.4				34.9	50.5	52.9						74.1				$14,108
Rankin Elementary School	Public	3-5	1908 Forrest Street	Tupelo	38801	Lee County	Tupelo Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 841-8950	375	30	12.6	71.7%	120 (32.0%)	190 (50.7%)	44 (11.7%)	4 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	16 (4.3%)	57.7	165^th of 383 public elementary schools	56.9%		64.4	139^th of 390 public elementary schools	64.4%	26	56.6	51.2	54.1				53.0	45.8	49.6						75.0				$14,059
Thomas Street Elementary School	Public	K-2	520 S Thomas Street	Tupelo	38801	Lee County	Tupelo Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 841-8960	374	29	13.0	66.8%	112 (29.9%)	196 (52.4%)	34 (9.1%)	11 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (5.6%)								(n/a)																			$13,147
Tupelo High School	Public	9-12	4125 Golden Wave Drive	Tupelo	38801	Lee County	Tupelo Public School District	No	No	No	No	(662) 841-8970	2,123	153	13.8	61.5%	696 (32.8%)	1,075 (50.6%)	241 (11.4%)	42 (2.0%)	2 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	67 (3.2%)	56.5	111^th of 232 public high schools	52.2%		51.9	116^th of 228 public high schools	49.1%	5													63.9	49.0			67.9	71.1	$12,106
Tupelo Lee County Vocational Technical School	Public	9-12	4125 Golden Wave Drive	Tupelo	38801	Lee County	Tupelo Public School District	No	No	No	No	(662) 841-8990	0	0	.0		0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Carver Elementary School	Public	K-1	910 North Green Street	Tupelo	38804	Lee County	Tupelo Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 841-8870	312	23	13.5	75.3%	91 (29.2%)	171 (54.8%)	23 (7.4%)	4 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (7.4%)								(n/a)																			$14,223
Lawndale Elementary School	Public	3-5	1563 Mitchell Road	Tupelo	38801	Lee County	Tupelo Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 841-8890	378	33	11.6	76.2%	95 (25.1%)	208 (55.0%)	42 (11.1%)	14 (3.7%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (4.8%)	63.5	142^nd of 383 public elementary schools	62.9%		54.8	178^th of 390 public elementary schools	54.4%	36	47.6	44.3	70.4				63.2	57.4	58.2						75.5				$13,650
Milam Elementary School	Public	6	720 West Jefferson	Tupelo	38804	Lee County	Tupelo Public School District	No	No	No	No	(662) 841-8920	456	37	12.3	66.7%	127 (27.9%)	248 (54.4%)	47 (10.3%)	15 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (4.2%)								(n/a)			0.0	51.1					0.0	61.7					0.0				$11,300
Tupelo Alternative School	Public, Alternative	4-12	903 Fillmore Drive	Tupelo	38801	Lee County	Tupelo Public School District	No	No	No	No	(662) 841-8956	0	0			0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Parkway Elementary School	Public	K-2	628 Rutherford Road	Tupelo	38801	Lee County	Tupelo Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 844-6303	418	32	13.0	74.9%	97 (23.2%)	252 (60.3%)	35 (8.4%)	8 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (6.2%)								(n/a)																			$12,778

Cities Near Tupelo

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Verona	2.62 mi	1	199^th
Plantersville	4.94 mi	1	186^th
Belden	5.75 mi	1
Shannon	7.7 mi	4	165^th
Mooreville	9.44 mi	3	22^nd

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.