Summary
Kemper County High School is a small public high school in De Kalb, MS, serving 304 students in grades 9–12 as part of the Kemper County School District. The school has consistently ranked in the bottom tier of Mississippi high schools, earning a 1-star rating and ranking 197th out of 224 schools for 2025–2026, yet it graduates a strong 96.8% of its students—well above the state average of 89.2%.
When compared to nearby West Lauderdale High School, the academic gaps are dramatic. In 2025–2026 MAAP end-of-course tests, Kemper’s proficiency rates were 58.3% in Algebra I, 24.5% in English II, and 30.0% in Biology, compared to West Lauderdale’s 73.2%, 71.1%, and 74.7%, respectively. Kemper also serves a very different student population, with 100% of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch versus 36.8% at West Lauderdale. Notably, Kemper has a much lower student-teacher ratio at 7.1-to-1 compared to West Lauderdale’s 13.3-to-1, meaning class sizes are smaller, yet test outcomes remain far below expectations.
Chronic absenteeism is a serious concern, with 35.4% of Kemper students chronically absent in 2023–2024, well above the state average of 23.9%. Test scores have also been highly volatile—Biology proficiency swung from 71.9% in 2022–2023 to 30.0% in 2025–2026—suggesting unstable academic programming. Over the past decade, the school has never ranked above the 27th percentile in the state. English II proficiency has remained stubbornly low, hovering between 23.5% and 31.5% for several years. The graduation rate is a clear strength, but the school’s low test scores, high poverty, and absenteeism issues suggest students are graduating without reaching state proficiency standards. The most promising opportunities for improvement lie in literacy instruction, reducing chronic absenteeism, and creating stable, sustained academic programs.
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