Summary:
Zip code 38635 in the Holly Springs area includes three elementary schools — Holly Springs Primary School (grades PK-3, 332 students), H. W. Byers Elementary (grades K-4, 262 students), and Galena School (grades K-8, 138 students) — serving 732 students across the Holly Springs School District and the Marshall County School District. All three schools serve high-poverty student populations, with free/reduced lunch rates above 93%, making economic challenges an important context for understanding their test results.
Galena School is the highest-ranked and most improved school in the area. It rose from 306th in the state in 2023-2024 to 240th of 377 (2 stars) in 2025-2026, and it has the smallest class sizes at 11.8 students per teacher. Galena posted strong scores in 3rd grade ELA (62.5% vs. 48.5% state average), 8th grade math, and 8th grade science, but its 4th grade scores trail both the state and H. W. Byers Elementary, and its 7th grade ELA proficiency was just 10%. H. W. Byers, also in the Marshall County district, improved its state rank from 324th to 269th and posted a solid 4th grade ELA rate of 57.1%, though its 3rd grade scores are low at 24.5% in ELA and 18.9% in math.
Holly Springs Primary School is the area's biggest concern: after posting the strongest 3rd grade ELA score in the zip code in 2024-2025 at 58.9%, it dropped to 46.0% in 2025-2026, with only 30.1% proficient in math. Its chronic absenteeism rate of 35.3% is far above the state average of 23.9%, while Galena (21.6%) and H. W. Byers (22.8%) are both below the state average. Overall, Galena offers the strongest outcomes and smallest classes, H. W. Byers shows a promising upward trajectory and strong 4th grade performance, while Holly Springs Primary needs attention for declining test scores and high absenteeism. Parents should weigh each school's grade-level strengths and keep in mind that small cohorts at Galena can make year-to-year results volatile.
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