Winona Secondary School

Winona Secondary School serves 502 students in grades 7 through 12 in Winona, Mississippi, and operates within the Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District. The district currently holds a 1-star rating, ranking 107th out of 134 districts in Mississippi, and the school itself ranks 175th out of 224 high schools statewide — a noticeable decline from 131st place in 2020–2021. Nearly all students (99.4%) come from economically disadvantaged households, qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

The most pressing concern for parents is the graduation rate, which has dropped to 77.6% — well below the state average of 89.2%, and far behind nearby Grenada High School (91.2%) and J.Z. George High School (88.9%). This is the lowest figure in the school's recent history, down from 96.9% in 2020–2021. Chronic absenteeism stands at 25.6%, slightly above the state rate of 23.9%, though better than both Grenada (28.7%) and J.Z. George (27.6%). Academically, proficiency rates trail state averages in nearly every subject. English Language Arts is the weakest area, with 7th-grade ELA at 29.8% proficiency versus the state's 36.7%, and English II at 36.7% versus the state's 49.3%. Math and science also lag behind, though middle-school math shows some relative strength.

Despite these challenges, Winona outperforms J.Z. George in most tested subjects — for example, 8th-grade math proficiency is 43.4% at Winona compared to just 13.6% at J.Z. George. Winona also has the lowest student-teacher ratio in the area at 10.4, suggesting solid staffing levels. However, it trails Grenada High School significantly on end-of-course exams, including Algebra I (47.3% vs. 66.5%) and Biology (48.4% vs. 75.8%). The school's biggest opportunities for improvement lie in literacy instruction, supporting students through the transition from middle-school math to Algebra I, and reversing the recent decline in graduation rates. Parents considering this school should weigh its small class sizes and strengths relative to J.Z. George against the significant academic and graduation concerns.