Summary:
Columbus Municipal School District has one high school, Columbus High School, serving grades 9–12 with 865 students in Columbus, Mississippi, and the district ranks 122nd out of 134 Mississippi districts (9th percentile, zero stars). The school's defining context is extreme poverty: 99.77% of students qualify for free/reduced-price lunch, while the student-teacher ratio is 11.6. Because it is the only high school, its results are identical to district high school results for test scores and graduation.
The 2024–2025 graduation rate was 84.3%, below the state's 89.2%. Chronic absenteeism reached 40.7% in 2023–2024, versus 23.9% statewide. On 2025–2026 MAAP exams, Algebra I proficiency was 31.1% (state 66.0%), English II 23.0% (state 49.3%), and Biology 47.1% (state 63.1%). In 2024–2025, results were 38.4% in Algebra I, 17.9% in English II, 33.3% in Biology, and 48.5% in U.S. History. State rankings improved from 222nd (0 stars) in 2024–2025 to 208th (0 stars) in 2025–2026, but remain near the bottom of Mississippi high schools.
Year-over-year, Biology improved by 13.8 points and English II by 5.1 points, while Algebra I fell by 7.3 points. Biology is now the strongest subject, while English II remains a graduation-required exam with only 23% proficient. Because Columbus High School is the only high school in Columbus Municipal School District, its strengths and struggles fully define the district's high school profile. For parents, this is a high-poverty school with significant attendance and achievement challenges, though recent gains in science and English offer modest hope.
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