Summary:
Jackson, Mississippi is served by six public high schools in the Jackson Public Schools district, serving grades 7 through 12, in a city where every school reports near-universal economic disadvantage with free/reduced lunch rates of 99.9% to 100%. The district ranks 112th out of 134 in Mississippi with a 1-star rating, and every school falls below state averages in every subject on the MAAP end-of-course exams.
Murrah High School is the clear academic leader, ranking 166th of 224 statewide, with the highest English II proficiency in the city (43%), strong Biology (45.6%), and solid Algebra I (47.3%). Callaway High School stands out in science and math with the best Biology proficiency (54.3%) and best Algebra I (48.1%), though its English II proficiency lags at 21.6%. At the other end, Provine High School ranks last in the entire state at 224th, with the lowest graduation rate (74.9%), lowest Algebra I (27.7%), and lowest Biology (18.4%). Lanier Junior/Senior High School, the only school serving grades 7-12, has the highest graduation rate (87.8%) but alarmingly low middle-school scores, with just 2.5% of 7th graders proficient in English Language Arts.
Chronic absenteeism is a systemic crisis: five of six schools exceed the district average of 30.1%, with Callaway (45.3%) and Forest Hill High School (43.7%) the worst, while Jim Hill High School has the lowest at 27.4%. Smaller class sizes do not guarantee success — Provine has the lowest student-teacher ratio (10.6) yet ranks last, while Murrah has the highest (15.7) and performs best. Jim Hill's sharp decline from 56.6% Algebra I proficiency in 2024-25 to 36.7% in 2025-26 highlights volatility, and no school shows a clear upward trajectory. For parents, Murrah and Callaway offer the strongest academics, while Provine and Lanier face the most serious challenges requiring significant intervention.
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