High Schools in Jackson Public Schools

The six high schools in Jackson Public Schools — serving grades 9–12 (plus 7–8 at Lanier Junior/Senior High School) in Jackson, Mississippi — face serious systemic challenges, including near-universal poverty, chronic absenteeism well above state averages, and academic proficiency that trails Mississippi by roughly 25–27 percentage points in every core subject. All six schools have free/reduced lunch rates at or near 100%, and none currently ranks above the 26th percentile statewide. The brightest overall profile belongs to Murrah High School, the district’s top-ranked school (166th of 224), with the best English II proficiency (43%), the best U.S. History score (59.1%), and a graduation rate of 85.9%. Callaway High School is the biggest positive mover, jumping from the 12th to the 20th percentile, and now leads the district in Algebra I (48.1%) and Biology (54.3%) — the closest any JPS school comes to the state average in a tested subject. At the other end, Provine High School ranks dead last in Mississippi (224th of 224), with the lowest graduation rate (74.9%) and the lowest proficiency in Algebra I, Biology, and U.S. History.

Meanwhile, Lanier Junior/Senior High School posts the district’s highest graduation rate (87.8%) despite very low test scores — a reminder that graduating students and mastering state standards are not the same thing. Its 7th grade ELA proficiency of just 2.5% signals a deep literacy crisis that likely limits later high school performance. Jim Hill High School has declined sharply, dropping from the 19th to the 4th percentile in one year, with Algebra I proficiency falling from 56.6% to 36.7%. Forest Hill High School remains in the bottom 5% statewide, with chronic absenteeism at 43.7%.

Across the district, English II is a glaring weakness: outside Murrah’s 43%, every school scores between 20.3% and 22.0%, showing a systemic literacy gap that has not improved alongside gains in math and science. Chronic absenteeism is severe — Callaway (45.3%) and Forest Hill (43.7%) are the worst, while Jim Hill (27.4%) is the only school below the district average. Despite all this, graduation rates are reasonably high (85–88%) except at Provine, suggesting that students are progressing to graduation but without the academic mastery measured by state tests. The data makes clear that while poverty and absenteeism are powerful headwinds, some JPS schools — particularly Murrah and Callaway — are finding ways to outperform their peers, and scaling those successes is the district’s biggest opportunity.