High Schools in Forest Municipal School District

Forest Municipal School District has one high school, Forest High School, serving grades 9-12 in Forest, Mississippi, a small town in the central part of the state. Because this is the district's only high school, its performance represents the entire district at the high school level, and there are no other local high schools to compare it to. The school serves a high-poverty student population, with nearly 87% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, and it maintains a favorable student-teacher ratio of 13.5 to 1.

Forest High School currently ranks in the bottom quarter of Mississippi high schools, earning 1 star in the state's accountability system. However, its most recent ranking improved from the 15th percentile to the 25th percentile, and its rank moved from 198th to 168th out of about 224 schools. One of the biggest concerns is chronic absenteeism: 39.8% of students are chronically absent, far above the state average of 23.9% and the district-wide rate of 24.6%. The graduation rate is 78.3%, which is nearly 11 percentage points below the state average. Academically, the school shows a mixed picture. U.S. History proficiency matched the state average at 69.5%, while Biology improved dramatically from 35.6% to 55.1% in one year. English II also rose from 25.6% to 37.8%, but Algebra I declined from 47.7% to 39.8%, leaving it as the most pressing academic gap.

For parents, the key takeaway is that Forest High School faces real challenges, especially with attendance, graduation rates, and math proficiency, but it is not uniformly low-performing. The school is showing encouraging improvement in science and English, and its U.S. History scores are essentially on par with the state. The high rate of chronic absenteeism is likely a major factor holding back both test scores and graduation outcomes, and it stands out even within the Forest Municipal School District. While the school's overall 1-star rating and bottom-quartile rank may give pause, the recent upward trend in several subjects and state ranking suggests that focused efforts on attendance and Algebra I could make a meaningful difference in the years ahead.