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Cook Elementary School

Public Grades PK, KG-4

329^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 377 Mississippi Elementary Schools

Better than 13% of Mississippi elementary schools

Summary

Cook Elementary School is a PK–5 public school in Columbus, Mississippi, serving 415 students in the Columbus Municipal School District. The school serves one of the highest-poverty student populations in the region — nearly all students (99.76%) qualified for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25. Cook's student-teacher ratio of 14.2:1 is moderate, and the school has been a relative bright spot within a district ranked among the lowest-performing in Mississippi.

Academically, Cook has consistently outperformed its own district average in combined English Language Arts and math proficiency. In 2025-26, the school ranked 328th out of 377 Mississippi elementary schools — the highest among its district peers, ahead of Sale Elementary School (335th), Fairview Elementary School (339th), and Stokes Beard Elementary School (355th). Cook's 4th grade ELA proficiency was 32.6%, more than nine points above the district average and far ahead of same-district peers. However, absolute proficiency remains well below state averages — Cook's 3rd grade math proficiency was 24.5% in 2025-26 compared with 48.8% statewide, and the school's statewide percentile has slipped from the mid-20s to the 13th percentile. The gap is starkest when compared with nearby Caledonia Elementary in the Lowndes County School District, a school serving far fewer low-income students (51% free/reduced lunch) that ranks in the 92nd percentile statewide.

Cook has some genuine strengths. Chronic absenteeism is a clear positive outlier: 18.3% of students were chronically absent in 2023-24, well below the district rate of 28.4% and the state rate of 23.9% — a notable achievement given the school's near-universal poverty rate. Cook has also shown pockets of strong performance, including 3rd grade math proficiency of 50.8% in 2023-24, nearly matching the state average. However, recent years have brought volatility, and 5th grade science has been a consistent weakness, trailing the state by more than 20 points in 2024-25. Overall, Cook is a resilient school doing solid work under steep socioeconomic challenges — outperforming its district while still facing significant academic hurdles.

415

Students ?

14.2

Student/teacher ratio ?

$12,452

Per pupil spending ?

99.8%

Free/discounted lunch ?

2217 7th Street N
Columbus, MS 39701

(662) 241-7180

District: Columbus Municipal School District

Students who attend Cook Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:	Columbus Middle School
High:	Columbus High School

Racial breakdown:

African American:

86.3%

Hispanic:

6.0%

White:

4.3%

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At a glance

▬ Ranking trend: Holding steady — 10th percentile in 2016 → 13th in 2026

Strengths

✓Among the top-ranked schools in Columbus Municipal School District

Worth a look

!Test scores below the Mississippi average (29% vs 50% meeting standards)

!In the lower quartile statewide (13th percentile)

!Mathematics scores 24 pts below the Mississippi average

Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?

This school29%

District avg26%

Mississippi avg50%

329^th of 377

Mississippi public elementary schools ?

Bottom 13%▲ up 3 pts since 2016

See the entire ranking list of Mississippi Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

1^st of 4Elementary Schools in the Columbus Municipal School District

123^rd of 133Columbus Municipal School District 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

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Mississippi percentile	Rating
2026	16.0	329 of 377	12.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2025	23.0	310 of 380	18.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	27.6	290 of 380	23.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	29.0	278 of 358	22.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	25.1	272 of 355	23.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	21.2	278 of 352	21.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	13.6	326 of 354	7.9%	☆☆☆☆☆
2018	9.9	338 of 351	3.7%	☆☆☆☆☆
2017	11.8	388 of 406	4.4%	☆☆☆☆☆
2016	16.9	354 of 394	10.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2015	19.3	354 of 402	11.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2014	23.0	337 of 394	14.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2013	29.4	315 of 408	22.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2012	38.4	267 of 414	35.5%	★★☆☆☆
2011	39.3	274 of 418	34.4%	★★☆☆☆
2010	48.8	215 of 403	46.7%	★★☆☆☆
2009	45.9	229 of 392	41.6%	★★☆☆☆
2008	41.5	252 of 394	36.0%	★★☆☆☆

By subject vs Mississippi (2025-2026) ?

English Language Arts32%-18 vs state

Mathematics26%-24 vs state

★

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Schools Near Cook Elementary School

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				MAAP English Language Arts (2026)				MAAP Mathematics (2026)				MAAP Science (2026)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients (2025)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	MAAP English Language Arts 3rd Grade	MAAP English Language Arts 4th Grade	MAAP English Language Arts 5th Grade	MAAP English Language Arts 6th Grade	MAAP Mathematics 3rd Grade	MAAP Mathematics 4th Grade	MAAP Mathematics 5th Grade	MAAP Mathematics 6th Grade	MAAP Science 5th Grade	Total
Cook Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-4	2217 7th Street N	Columbus	39701	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7180	415	29	14.2	99.8%	18 (4.3%)	358 (86.3%)	25 (6.0%)	6 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.9%)	16	329^th of 377 public elementary schools	12.7%		23	310^th of 380 public elementary schools	18.4%	19	31.9	32.6			24.5	27.0				$12,452
Stokes Beard Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-4	311 Martin Luther King Dr	Columbus	39701	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7270	369	26	14.4	100.0%	6 (1.6%)	353 (95.7%)	3 (0.8%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.6%)	10.9	355^th of 377 public elementary schools	5.8%		17.8	335^th of 380 public elementary schools	11.8%	20	28.8	15.5			25.7	22.4				$11,893
Fairview Elementary School	Public	K-4	225 Airline Road	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7140	244	16	15.4	99.6%	2 (0.8%)	239 (98.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.2%)	13.3	339^th of 377 public elementary schools	10.1%		18.9	329^th of 380 public elementary schools	13.4%	10	32.4	20.6			27.0	23.5				$12,216
Sale Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-4	520 Warpath Road	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7260	290	18	16.4	100.0%	7 (2.4%)	271 (93.4%)	6 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.1%)	13.7	335^th of 377 public elementary schools	11.1%		27.6	286^th of 380 public elementary schools	24.7%	49	23.0	17.8			29.2	33.4				$12,394
New Hope Upper Elementary	Public	3-5	462 Center Road	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Lowndes County School District	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(662) 244-4780	0				0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
New Hope Lower Elementary	Public	PK, KG-2	199 Enlow Drive	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Lowndes County School District	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(662) 244-4760	0				0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
West Lowndes Elementary	Public	PK, KG-6	1000 Gilmer Wilburn Road	Columbus	39701	Lowndes County	Lowndes County School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 244-5050	276	25	11.1	98.6%	3 (1.1%)	268 (97.1%)	4 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	24.5	303^rd of 377 public elementary schools	19.6%		23.1	309^th of 380 public elementary schools	18.7%	6	32.4	18.9	42.0	26.6	29.7	32.4	54.9	33.3	64.5	$15,813
Caledonia Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	9509 Wolfe Rd	Caledonia	39740	Lowndes County	Lowndes County School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 356-2050	1,070	76	14.0	51.2%	777 (72.6%)	165 (15.4%)	58 (5.4%)	3 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	66 (6.2%)	88.5	30^th of 377 public elementary schools	92.0%		86.3	39^th of 380 public elementary schools	89.7%	9	63.7	69.2	73.6		72.6	69.2	70.2		89.6	$9,899
East Side Elementary School	Public	PK-K	1039 E Broad Street	West Point	39773	Clay County	West Point Consolidated School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 494-4691	251	16	15.8	92.4%	28 (11.2%)	207 (82.5%)	9 (3.6%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.4%)								(n/a)										$11,511
Church Hill Elementary School	Public	1-2	2050 W Church Hill Road	West Point	39773	Clay County	West Point Consolidated School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 494-5900	379	27	14.1	89.4%	57 (15.0%)	300 (79.2%)	8 (2.1%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	11 (2.9%)								(n/a)										$11,772

Frequently Asked Questions about Cook Elementary School

What schools do graduates of Cook Elementary School attend?

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

Middle : Columbus Middle School
High : Columbus High School

What is the racial makeup of Cook Elementary School?

Students at Cook Elementary School are 86% African American, 6% Hispanic, 4% White, 2% Two or more races, 1% Asian.

What district is Cook Elementary School in?

Columbus Municipal School District

How many students attend Cook Elementary School?

In the 2024-25 school year, 415 students attended Cook Elementary School.

Is Cook Elementary School a good school?

Cook Elementary School ranks in the bottom 12.7% of Mississippi elementary schools.

Rate Cook Elementary School!

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Latest Mississippi data All new data »

2024–25 attendance dataNewOct 6, 2026

2025–26 MAAP test scoresAug 21, 2026

2023–24 school spending dataSep 26, 2025

2023–24 through 2024–25 attendance data & graduation ratesSep 26, 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.