Summary:
Raleigh, Mississippi, is a small community served by just two public schools in the Smith County School District: Raleigh Elementary School (grades PK–6, 649 students) and Raleigh High School (grades 7–12, 486 students). With no standalone middle school, students move from elementary to high school in 7th grade, and both schools have seen their state rankings decline over the past three years.
Raleigh Elementary is the stronger of the two schools academically, currently ranking 209th of 377 elementary schools (45th percentile) with a 2-star rating. It shines in math and science — 6th grade math proficiency is 67% (14 points above the state average) and 5th grade science is 72.1% — and its chronic absenteeism rate of 11.3% is well below the district's 14.7% and less than half the state's 23.9%. However, English Language Arts is a weak spot: 3rd-grade ELA proficiency dropped from 53.5% to 35.4% in a single year. Raleigh High School, meanwhile, is a standout for graduation, graduating 96.5% of its students compared to 85.2% for the district and 89.2% for the state, despite 72.4% of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch.
The high school's academic ranking, however, has fallen sharply from the 74th percentile in 2023-24 to just the 37th percentile in 2025-26 (141st of 224). Its chronic absenteeism rate of 20.8% is nearly double the elementary school's, and 7th-grade ELA proficiency sits at just 24%, down from 39.7% for the same cohort in 6th grade — a sign that the early transition to high school is academically disruptive. Algebra I proficiency (57.5%) also trails the state (66.0%). The district overall remains a 3-star system ranked 63rd of 134, but the urgent priorities are clear: boost ELA instruction in grades 3, 7, and 8, reduce high school absenteeism, and support students through the 7th-grade transition.
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