Summary:
Puckett, Mississippi is served by two public schools — Puckett Elementary (PK–6) and Puckett High School (7–12) — which together form a continuous PK–12 pipeline within the Rankin County School District, a 4-star district ranked 25th out of 134 in Mississippi.
Puckett Elementary is the clear standout, ranking 40th out of 377 schools statewide (89th percentile) for 2025–2026 and improving each of the past three years. It exceeds state proficiency rates in nearly every subject and grade, with particularly strong 5th-grade science (88.6% proficient) and 6th-grade math (81.3%). Its chronic absenteeism rate of 12.9% is better than both the district and state. Meanwhile, Puckett High School presents a mixed picture: it boasts a 96.2% graduation rate, well above state and district averages, and strong 7th-grade scores, but its 2025–2026 ranking fell sharply to 130th out of 224 (42nd percentile, 2 stars). The most striking gap appears in 8th grade, where ELA proficiency drops to 31.7% and math to 45.0% — both far below district averages.
Looking at key metrics, the high school has a very low student–teacher ratio of 9.9 and a moderate free/reduced lunch rate of 48.4%, yet its end-of-course exams in Algebra I, English II, and Biology all trail district and state averages. The elementary school, with a 12.7 student–teacher ratio and 43.6% free/reduced lunch, demonstrates that strong achievement is possible in this community. One persistent weak point at the elementary level is 4th-grade math, which has lagged the district by roughly 18–26 points for two straight years. Chronic absenteeism is uneven: 12.9% at the elementary but 17.7% at the high school. The biggest opportunity for the district is clearly in bridging the elementary-to-high-school gap — especially 8th-grade proficiency — and addressing the 4th-grade math outlier at the elementary school.
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