Oxford High School

Oxford High School is a large public high school in Oxford, Mississippi, serving 1,335 students in grades 9–12 as part of the Oxford School District, one of the top-ranked districts in the state. The school currently holds a 4-star rating and ranks 36th out of 224 Mississippi high schools, placing it in the 84th percentile. While OHS has generally performed well over the past decade, its rankings have been volatile — from a peak of 26th in 2024–25 to 87th in 2022–23. Notably, nearby Lafayette High School, just 1.71 miles away, currently outranks Oxford with a 5-star rating and a 21st-place ranking, though the two schools have traded places in recent years.

In terms of academics, Oxford's strongest subject areas are Biology and English II, with proficiency rates of 80.0% and 63.4% respectively — well above state averages. However, Algebra I is a persistent weak spot, with only 65.4% of students scoring proficient, which is slightly below the state average of 66.0% and nearly 21 points behind Lafayette High School's 86.0%. This Algebra I gap has persisted for several years. Interestingly, the district-wide Algebra I score is much higher at 78.8%, likely because high-performing middle school students take the course early, which can mask the high school's own struggles in this subject.

Oxford faces some notable challenges outside of test scores. The school's chronic absenteeism rate of 35.4% is the highest among the three nearby high schools and far exceeds the state average of 23.9%. More than one in three students were chronically absent in 2023–24. The graduation rate of 90.1%, while above the state average, trails both Lafayette High School (93.1%) and Water Valley High School (92.3%). Oxford also has a higher student-teacher ratio of 14.8 compared to 12.3 at Lafayette and 10.7 at Water Valley. For parents, this suggests that while Oxford offers strong academic programs — especially in science and English — attendance and math readiness are areas worth watching closely.