Lewisburg Middle School

Lewisburg Middle School is a public middle school in Hernando, Mississippi, serving roughly 996 students in grades 6–8 as part of the DeSoto County School District, and it has finished as a top-five middle school in Mississippi for ten consecutive years, ranking #2 in the state with a 5-star rating in 2025–2026. Over the past decade, Lewisburg has been the #1 middle school in the state three times and has never finished outside the top five. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 16.8, and about 21.8% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a far lower rate than most nearby schools.

The biggest academic differentiator is mathematics. In 2025–2026, roughly 86–91% of Lewisburg students scored proficient in math on the MAAP exams — more than 30 percentage points above the state average at every grade level. In 2024–2025, 100% of Lewisburg students taking Algebra I passed the end-of-course exam, compared to 67.3% statewide. English Language Arts proficiency runs 18–23 points above state averages, and 8th grade science sits at 74.3% proficiency. While ELA and science are solidly above average, math is clearly the engine driving Lewisburg's elite reputation.

Compared with nearby schools, Lewisburg stands out sharply. Hernando Middle School, the nearest 5-star competitor, posts slightly better 8th grade science scores, but Lewisburg leads in every math and ELA grade level. The gap with other area schools is dramatic — in 7th grade math, Lewisburg hit 90.9% proficiency while Southaven Middle School posted 39.4% and Horn Lake Middle School 50.1%. These differences track closely with economic disadvantage: Lewisburg's free/reduced lunch rate is 21.8%, compared to 62.6% at Olive Branch Middle School, 64.5% at Southaven, 71.0% at Horn Lake, and 99.3% at Byhalia Middle School. One area to watch is chronic absenteeism (22.7% in 2023–2024), which is roughly on par with the state average. Even so, Lewisburg remains one of the highest-achieving public middle schools in Mississippi.