Summary:
Located in Pearl, Mississippi, the Pearl Public Schools district contains just one high school, Pearl High School, which serves 1,278 students in grades 9–12 and has a free/reduced lunch eligibility rate of 57.98%. Because this is the only high school in the district, its performance is the single most important indicator of high school quality for local families.
Pearl High School offers a mixed profile of strengths and concerns. The graduation rate is a clear highlight at 95.7%, exceeding the district's 95.3% and the state's 89.2%, and the student-teacher ratio is a reasonable 14.1 to 1. However, the school's state ranking dropped sharply from the 66th percentile with 3 stars in 2024–2025 to the 38th percentile with 2 stars in 2025–2026. Test proficiency fell across core subjects during that same period: Algebra I dropped from 53.0% to 42.9%, English II fell from 60.9% to 43.9%, and Biology slipped from 67.2% to 64.4%.
The most serious concern is Algebra I, where Pearl High now trails the state by roughly 23 points (42.9% vs. 66.0%). English II also reversed course, going from 11 points above the state average to below it in a single year. Biology remains the school's only tested subject at or above the state average (64.4% vs. 63.1%). Chronic absenteeism is another red flag at 26.3%, well above the district's 19.9% and the state's 23.9%. Despite these academic struggles, the school continues to graduate students at a very high rate, meaning many students are completing high school without reaching proficiency in key subjects. Addressing absenteeism and stabilizing Algebra I and English II performance should be the top priorities for the district and school leadership.
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