Summary:
The Nettleton School District, located in Nettleton, Mississippi, has one high school: Nettleton High School, serving 316 students in grades 9 through 12. Because it is the only high school in the district, its graduation rate and test scores are the same as the district's high-school-level figures. The school serves a high-poverty population, with 80.38% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, and has a strong student-teacher ratio of 12.5 to 1.
Nettleton High School has clear academic strengths in Biology and U.S. History. In 2025–2026, 74.4% of students scored proficient in Biology, far above the state average of 63.1%, and in 2024–2025, 80.7% scored proficient in U.S. History versus 69.7% statewide. The graduation rate of 92.5% also tops the state average of 89.2%. However, English II remains a persistent weakness at 39.1% proficiency, about 10 points below the state's 49.3%, and Algebra I, although improved from 49.4% to 58.5%, still trails the state's 66.0%. The school's state ranking improved from 150th in 2024–2025 to 125th in 2025–2026, climbing from the 35th to the 44th percentile, though it remains a two-star school.
The most significant concern is chronic absenteeism. In 2023–2024, 47.1% of Nettleton High School students were chronically absent—nearly double the district's 28.1% and more than double the state's 23.9%. This likely contributes to below-average results in Algebra I and English II. The gap between the high school and district absenteeism rates also suggests attendance problems are more severe among high school students than younger students in the district. Despite high poverty and attendance challenges, the school graduates students at an above-average rate, and its improvements in Biology and overall ranking are encouraging. For parents, the picture is mixed: strong science and history instruction, a solid graduation rate, and recent momentum, but real work needed on attendance and English and math proficiency.
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