Best Middle Schools in Zip Code 38663

Zip code 38663 is home to a single middle school, Ripley Middle School, which serves 459 students in grades 5–8 within the South Tippah School District. This means all local middle school students attend the same school, so the data below provides a complete picture of how the area’s upper-elementary and middle-grade learners are performing.

Ripley Middle School is an improving school with clear academic strengths. In 2025–2026, it ranked in the 60th percentile of Mississippi middle schools, a notable jump from the 39th percentile just two years earlier. The school’s standout subject is mathematics, especially in 5th grade, where 71.9% of students scored proficient compared to 49.6% statewide — a 22.3-point advantage. Sixth-grade math also excels (64.7% proficient vs. 52.7% statewide), and 5th-grade science is strong at 77.5% proficiency, well above the state’s 71.5%. Beyond test scores, the school posts a low chronic absenteeism rate of 14.5%, far better than the district’s 18.7% and the state’s 23.9%. With a student-teacher ratio of 12.9 to 1 and 78% of students receiving free/reduced lunch, the school is demonstrating that high-poverty demographics do not prevent strong academic results in the early middle grades.

The main concern is 8th grade performance. In 2025–2026, 8th graders scored below state averages in every tested subject: ELA at 32.0% proficient (state 40.9%), math at 47.5% (state 51.4%), and science at 52.5% (state 57.8%). This is a sharp reversal from the prior year, when 8th grade ELA was above the state (49.1% vs. 41.7%) and 8th grade math was also ahead (56.7% vs. 47.5%). The 17.1-point drop in 8th grade ELA is particularly striking. While the district overall ranks in the 75th percentile of Mississippi districts, Ripley Middle’s 8th grade slide suggests the school’s successful strategies in lower grades are not yet carrying through to the final year. If school leaders can apply the same approaches that work in 5th and 6th grade to 8th grade, this school has strong potential to climb even higher.