Summary:
Zip code 38632 is home to one public high school, Hernando High School, which serves grades 9–12 and enrolls about 1,529 students as part of the DeSoto County School District in Mississippi. With just a single high school in the area, there are no nearby schools to compare, but this school stands out strongly on its own merits.
Hernando High School is consistently one of the top high schools in the state, ranking 12th out of 224 Mississippi high schools for 2025–2026 and 2024–2025, and 5th out of 228 in 2023–2024. It holds a 5-star rating from SchoolDigger, while its district earns 3 stars. The school's graduation rate is an excellent 97.1%, far above the state's 89.2% and nearly matching the district's 97.0%. Academically, Hernando outperforms both district and state averages in every tested subject: Algebra I proficiency is 88.5% versus 75.7% for the district and 66.0% for the state, while Biology proficiency is 78.1% versus 68.4% and 63.1%, respectively. Even the school's lowest subject, English II, beats district and state averages at 69.9% proficiency.
The most notable concern is chronic absenteeism, which sits at 29.7%—higher than the district's 26.4% and the state's 23.9%, meaning nearly 3 in 10 students miss a significant amount of school despite the school's high achievement. English II is the relative weak spot compared to math and science scores, and Biology proficiency dipped from 84.3% to 78.1% between 2024–2025 and 2025–2026, though that is only two years of data. With a low free/reduced-price lunch rate of 22.96% and a student-teacher ratio of 17.1:1, Hernando High generally reflects an economically advantaged population. Overall, this is a very strong school with elite academics and an excellent graduation rate, but attendance is an issue worth watching.
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