South Tippah School District

The South Tippah School District serves 2,403 students across 5 schools in the Ripley, Mississippi area, including an elementary school, a middle school, a traditional high school, and two alternative-designated schools spanning grades PK-12. The district is ranked 33rd out of 134 Mississippi districts (4 stars, 75th percentile), with all five schools serving high-poverty populations, as free/reduced lunch rates range from 73.1% to 92.2%. Chronic absenteeism varies widely, from a district-best 11.8% at Ripley Elementary School to a concerning 27.3% at Ripley High School.

Ripley Elementary School leads the district in 3rd grade math, with 73.3% proficient compared to the state's 48.8%, and also holds the lowest chronic absenteeism rate. Ripley Middle School is the district's clearest improvement story, rising from the 39th to the 60th percentile since 2023-24, with strong 5th grade math (71.9%) and science (77.5%). Ripley High School shines in end-of-course exams — Biology at 85.4% and Algebra I at 75.5% — and graduates 95.7% of students, but English II proficiency is just 39.1%. Pine Grove High School, despite its alternative designation, is the district's largest school (573 students, PK-12) and beats state averages in 4th grade ELA, 6th and 8th grade math, and Biology. Blue Mountain High School posts a perfect 100% graduation rate and the district's lowest student-teacher ratio (9.3:1), though its test scores swing widely given its small 295-student enrollment.

Two themes matter most. Math proficiency consistently exceeds English Language Arts across the district — the gap between Algebra I (75.5%) and English II (39.1%) at Ripley High is especially stark — making literacy the most urgent academic challenge. Also, the alternative-designated schools are central: 36% of district students attend Pine Grove or Blue Mountain. Every school with reported graduation data exceeds the state's 89.2% rate. Science is an underappreciated strength, with 5th grade science at 77.5% and Biology at 85.4%. Rank trends are mixed — Ripley Middle improved from 2 to 3 stars while Ripley Elementary and Ripley High slipped — a divergence the district's overall 4-star rating masks.