Baldwyn High School

Baldwyn High School is a public school in Baldwyn, Mississippi, serving 460 students in grades 5 through 12 as part of the Baldwyn School District, which ranks mid-pack among Mississippi districts. In the most recent SchoolDigger rankings, Baldwyn jumped dramatically from 135th to 35th out of 224 Mississippi high schools, earning a 4-star rating and placing it in the top 16% of the state. That represents a huge one-year improvement from a 2-star ranking, and the school now ranks ahead of Mooreville High School (41st), Booneville High School (62nd), and Saltillo High School (114th).

Baldwyn's high school end-of-course exams are a genuine strength. Proficiency rates beat state averages in Algebra I (75% vs. 66%), Biology (81.8% vs. 63.1%), and English II (57.4% vs. 49.3%). The school outperforms lower-poverty neighbors like Mooreville and Saltillo on Algebra I and Biology despite having the highest economic disadvantage rate (70% free/reduced lunch) in the area. Its closest comparable peer, New Site High School, still edges it out on all three EOC subjects. Chronic absenteeism is a comparative strength at 18.7%, well below the state's 23.9% and far better than Mooreville's 50.2%. However, grades 5–8 test scores lag well behind state averages, especially in math, creating a clear "middle school weakness, high school strength" pattern.

The biggest red flag is graduation rate. At 76.5% in 2024–2025, it is far below the state average of 89.2% and the lowest among nearby schools, including New Site (88.2%) and Mooreville (90.4%). This is especially puzzling given the school's strong ranking and a prior-year rate of 89.8%. Small cohorts of roughly 57 students per grade likely drive dramatic year-over-year swings, so the low rate may be a one-year anomaly. Still, parents should watch whether the graduation rate recovers. If it does, Baldwyn looks like a school on the rise; if it doesn't, the strong test scores may overstate overall success.