Lafayette High School

Lafayette High School is a public high school serving grades 9–12 in Oxford, Mississippi, with 855 students enrolled, and it belongs to the Lafayette County School District, which ranks #6 among Mississippi districts. The school recently earned a 5-star rating and jumped to #21 in the state rankings for 2025–2026, up from #86 the previous year — a remarkable turnaround that puts it ahead of nearby Oxford High School, which ranks #36 even though its home district, the Oxford School District, ranks slightly higher at #4. Families will appreciate the favorable student-teacher ratio of 12.3, which has improved steadily over the past few years.

Lafayette's standout strengths are in math and science. In Algebra I, 86% of students scored proficient, compared to 66% statewide, and the school outperformed Oxford High School by more than 20 percentage points. Biology proficiency is equally impressive at 80.9%, edging out Oxford's 80%. The graduation rate is strong too — 93.1% in 2024–2025, above both the state average of 89.2% and Oxford's 90.1%. The one academic area that lags is English II, where 59.1% of Lafayette students are proficient, compared to 63.4% at Oxford High School — though Lafayette still beats the state average of 49.3%.

The main concern for parents to know about is chronic absenteeism. About 28.5% of Lafayette students were chronically absent in 2023–2024, higher than the state average of 23.9%. Interestingly, this is still better than Oxford High School's 35.4% rate, but worse than nearby Water Valley High School, which sits at 19.7%. Water Valley serves a very different population and has much lower test scores, showing that Lafayette's challenges aren't just about resources. With its recent ranking surge, strong STEM results, and solid graduation rates, Lafayette High School is well-positioned to become one of Mississippi's elite public high schools — especially if it can improve attendance and boost English scores.