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New Hope Middle School

Public Grades 6-8
115th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 260 Mississippi Middle Schools
Better than 56% of Mississippi middle schools
Summary

New Hope Middle School serves 604 students in grades 6–8 in Columbus, Mississippi, as part of the Lowndes County School District. The school currently holds a 3-star rating and ranks 115th in Mississippi, placing it in the 56th percentile statewide. About 68.5% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, putting New Hope between its local neighbors: Caledonia Middle School (46.4%) and Columbus Middle School (99.7%).

The school's most impressive academic strength is Algebra I, where 93.4% of students scored proficient in 2025-2026 — far above the state average of 66%. But this strength does not extend to the broader student body. In 8th grade math, only 46.1% of students were proficient, well below the state and a full 24 points behind Caledonia Middle School. English Language Arts is a clear area of concern, especially in 7th and 8th grades, where proficiency rates of 30.7% and 35.6% trail the state and Caledonia Middle School by wide margins. On the positive side, New Hope outperforms Columbus Middle School in every subject, often by very large margins.

The biggest red flag for parents is chronic absenteeism. In 2023-2024, 33.8% of New Hope students were chronically absent — nearly double Caledonia Middle School's 17.5% and well above the state average of 23.9%. This has been a persistent issue for three straight years, and the school's statewide ranking has slipped from the 70th percentile to the mid-50s over the same period. Since New Hope still outperforms Columbus Middle School in every subject, the data suggest that improving attendance and adding targeted support in 7th and 8th grade ELA and 8th grade math could help the school return to its former top-quarter position.

604
Students ?
13.1
Student/teacher ratio ?
$11,280
Per pupil spending ?
68.5%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 3419 New Hope Rd
       Columbus, MS  39702

(662) 244-4740

District: Lowndes County School District

Racial breakdown:

White:
50.8%
African American:
42.7%
Two or more races:
4.0%
more
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At a glance
▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 79th percentile in 2016 → 56th in 2026
Strengths
✓Above the Mississippi median (56th percentile)
Worth a look
!High chronic absenteeism (34% vs 24% Mississippi)
!Ranking has slipped — down 23 percentile points since 2016
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school50%
District avg55%
Mississippi avg51%
115th of 260
Mississippi public middle schools ?
Top 44%▼ down 23 pts since 2016
From top 21% (2016) to top 44% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of Mississippi Middle Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
2nd of 2Middle Schools in the Lowndes County School District
53rd of 134Lowndes County 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

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMississippi percentileRating
202654.9115 of 26055.8%★★★☆☆
202556.6119 of 26655.3%★★★☆☆
202468.575 of 26471.6%★★★★☆
202369.473 of 24370.0%★★★★☆
202271.567 of 25773.9%★★★★☆
202166.688 of 25765.8%★★★☆☆
201975.659 of 26477.7%★★★★☆
201866.084 of 25266.7%★★★☆☆
201775.159 of 27278.3%★★★★☆
201675.954 of 26079.2%★★★★☆
201579.445 of 26683.1%★★★★☆
201456.3116 of 26456.1%★★★☆☆
201362.8103 of 26961.7%★★★☆☆
201254.5124 of 27054.1%★★★☆☆
201161.7109 of 26458.7%★★★☆☆
201059.2106 of 25558.4%★★★☆☆
200960.599 of 24759.9%★★★☆☆
200867.675 of 24469.3%★★★★☆
By subject vs Mississippi (2025-2026) ?
Algebra I93%+27 vs state
Science56%~ state avg
Mathematics54%~ state avg
English Language Arts40%~ state avg

★
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Frequently Asked Questions about New Hope Middle School

In the 2024-25 school year, 604 students attended New Hope Middle School.

New Hope Middle School ranks 115th of 260 Mississippi middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

Students at New Hope Middle School are 51% White, 43% African American, 4% Two or more races, 2% Hispanic.

Rate New Hope Middle School!



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MSMississippi Middle School Rankings

MSMississippi District Rankings

Schools in Columbus, MS

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Latest Mississippi data All new data »
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
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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