Best Public Schools in Oxford, MS

The 10 public schools in Oxford, Mississippi—serving students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade across the Oxford School District and Lafayette County district—enroll about 7,340 students and rank among the best in the state. Both districts are elite by Mississippi standards: Oxford ranks #4 and Lafayette #6 out of 134 districts, each earning 5 stars. The school mix includes two high schools, three middle schools (including one intermediate), and five elementary schools. Free/reduced lunch rates cluster narrowly between 41% and 54%, indicating consistent economic diversity across the city, while student-teacher ratios are favorable at every school, ranging from 10.5:1 at Lafayette Middle School to 15.5:1 at Lafayette Elementary School.

Several schools stand out. Lafayette High School is the top-ranked high school at #21 in Mississippi, with a 93.1% graduation rate and 86% Algebra I proficiency—20.6 points higher than Oxford High School. Oxford Middle School is a powerhouse, improving from #66 to #15 over three years and posting a remarkable 96.2% Algebra I EOC proficiency. Among elementary schools, Central Elementary School ranks #35 statewide and excels in 5th-grade science, while Della Davidson Elementary School is a math standout with 82.4% 3rd-grade math proficiency. Oxford Intermediate School outperforms Lafayette Upper Elementary School in both 6th-grade ELA and math, though both are well above state averages.

The clearest challenge is high school chronic absenteeism: 35.4% at Oxford High and 28.5% at Lafayette High, both above the 23.9% state average, while most middle and elementary schools sit below that mark. Oxford High also slipped below the state average in Algebra I, likely because many strong math students take the exam early at Oxford Middle. The two high schools have complementary strengths—Lafayette leads in Algebra I and graduation rate, while Oxford leads in English II and has comparable Biology scores. Early elementary schools like Bramlett Elementary School lack test data due to their grade spans, but overall this is a high-performing, well-supported educational community with excellent middle-level math acceleration and only one notable area for improvement: attendance at the high school level.