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McNeal Elementary School

Public Grades PK, KG-5
266th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 377 Mississippi Elementary Schools
Better than 29% of Mississippi elementary schools
Summary

McNeal Elementary School is a PK–5 school in Canton, Mississippi, serving 385 students in the Canton Public Schools district. It is a high-poverty school — 100% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch — and it currently ranks 266th out of 377 Mississippi elementary schools (29th percentile, 2 stars), an improvement from its 1-star ranking in 2017–18 but still the lowest-ranked elementary school in its district.

Academically, McNeal trails both the district and state in most subjects. Average ELA proficiency is 36.8% (district: 44.5%; state: 52.2%), and average math proficiency is 39.3% (district: 47.0%; state: 50.0%). The most concerning area is 4th grade math, where just 28.6% of students are proficient — compared to 66.7% at Canton Elementary, a nearby school in the same district serving the exact same 100% free lunch population. This 38-point gap shows that poverty alone doesn't determine outcomes and that school-level practices matter. McNeal also has the highest student-teacher ratio among district elementary schools at 17.3 to 1, up from 14.7 the year before.

There are some bright spots. McNeal's chronic absenteeism rate of 19.5% is well below the district (26.4%) and state (23.9%) averages, and its 5th grade science proficiency (70.9%) is nearly identical to the state average (71.5%). The stark contrast with nearby Madison County Schools — where schools like Madison Station Elementary serve far fewer low-income students (14% FRPL) and rank in the 98th percentile — underscores the strong link between concentrated poverty and achievement, while the in-district comparison to Canton Elementary shows that stronger outcomes are possible for the same population.

385
Students ?
17.3
Student/teacher ratio ?
$10,746
Per pupil spending ?
100%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 364 Martin Luther King Drive
       Canton, MS  39046

(601) 859-3654

District: Canton Public Schools


Students who attend McNeal Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:    Huey L Porter Middle
    Nichols Middle School
High:    Canton High School
Racial breakdown:

African American:
85.7%
Hispanic:
13.8%
Two or more races:
0.5%
 See top rated Mississippi elementary schools

 Compare McNeal Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Improving — 14th percentile in 2018 → 29th in 2026
Strengths
Ranking is trending up — up 15 percentile points since 2018
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Mississippi average (42% vs 54% meeting standards)
!English Language Arts scores 15 pts below the Mississippi average
!Near the bottom of Canton Public Schools's ranking
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school42%
District avg49%
Mississippi avg54%
266th of 377
Mississippi public elementary schools ?
Bottom 29%▲ up 15 pts since 2018
From bottom 14% (2018) to bottom 29% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of Mississippi Elementary Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
4th of 4Elementary Schools in the Canton Public Schools
75th of 134Canton Public Schools among Mississippi districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMississippi percentileRating
202631.9266 of 37729.4%★★☆☆☆
201818.4347 of 40414.1%★☆☆☆☆
By subject vs Mississippi (2025-2026) ?
Science71%~ state avg
Mathematics39%-11 vs state
English Language Arts37%-15 vs state

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Schools Near McNeal Elementary School

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Frequently Asked Questions about McNeal Elementary School

Students who attend McNeal Elementary School usually go on to attend:

Middle : Huey L Porter Middle
Middle : Nichols Middle School
High : Canton High School

In the 2024-25 school year, 385 students attended McNeal Elementary School.

Students at McNeal Elementary School are 86% African American, 14% Hispanic.

McNeal Elementary School ranks 266th of 377 Mississippi elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

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Latest Mississippi data All new data »
2025–26 MAAP test scoresNewAug 21, 2026
2023–24 school spending dataSep 26, 2025
2023–24 through 2024–25 attendance data & graduation ratesSep 26, 2025
2023–24 graduation ratesSep 23, 2025


SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Mississippi Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.

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