Best Public Schools in Clarksdale, MS

Clarksdale, Mississippi is served by 10 schools enrolling about 3,026 students in grades K-12 — four elementary schools, three middle schools, two high schools, and one alternative school — spread across the Clarksdale Municipal School District, the Coahoma County School District, and the Clarksdale Collegiate Public Charter School district. Every school serves a predominantly low-income population, with free/reduced lunch rates between 95.93% and 100%, and most schools rank in the bottom quarter of Mississippi schools.

Several schools stand out for starkly different reasons. J.W. Stampley 9th Grade Academy is the city's greatest contradiction: an alternative school with a 6.5:1 student-teacher ratio, it posts the highest test scores in the city — 87.2% proficiency in Biology versus the 63.1% state average — yet its graduation rate is just 7.1%. W.A. Higgins Academy is the most improved school, jumping from the 3rd to the 16th percentile in one year, with 7th grade math proficiency nearly doubling from 25.6% to 50.6%. Coahoma County High School boasts the top graduation rate in the city at 90.7%, above the state average, but its ranking collapsed to the 0th percentile. Clarksdale Collegiate Public Charter School, the largest school with 652 students, has the lowest chronic absenteeism at 20.6% yet posts just 8.8% proficiency in 4th grade math.

Chronic absenteeism is the city's most urgent crisis, averaging about 34% versus the state rate of 23.9%; Clarksdale High School leads the city at 57.1% chronically absent, and its EOC scores are correspondingly low, with only 29.7% proficient in English II. Middle school math also fades: W.A. Higgins Academy and Coahoma County Junior High School post solid 7th grade math scores near 50%, but 8th grade proficiency falls to 26.1% and 34.1%. Despite immense challenges, some schools beat the odds — J.W. Stampley 9th Grade Academy exceeded the state in Biology, Coahoma County High School graduates students above the state average, and Kirkpatrick Health and Wellness Magnet School is within nine points of the state in 4th grade math. The overall picture is systemic underperformance, but genuine gains at Higgins and Kirkpatrick offer cautious hope.