Best High Schools in Zip Code 38930

ZIP code 38930 in Greenwood, Mississippi is home to two public high schools—Greenwood High School/Votech and Amanda Elzy High School—both serving grades 9–12 within the Greenwood-Leflore Consolidated School District, an area characterized by extreme economic disadvantage where nearly 100% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Both schools rank in the bottom quarter of Mississippi high schools and perform well below state averages on MAAP assessments, reflecting systemic academic challenges across the entire district, which ranks in the bottom 10% of the state.

The two schools offer distinctly different profiles. Greenwood High School/Votech is the stronger academic performer, with its state ranking improving from the 9th percentile to the 13th percentile over three years. In 2025–2026, it posted the strongest subject results in the area, including 47.5% proficiency in Biology and 34.4% in English II, though Algebra I proficiency fell sharply from 42.2% to 25.5%. However, its chronic absenteeism rate of 40.6% is far above district and state averages. Amanda Elzy High School, by contrast, excels in student engagement, with a chronic absenteeism rate of just 12.4% and a graduation rate of 88.4% that nearly matches the state average. Yet its academic performance is the lowest in the area, with Algebra I at 35.6%, Biology at 25.9%, and a state ranking that has declined to the 3rd percentile.

These contrasting outcomes challenge the assumption that attendance alone drives achievement. Since both schools serve essentially identical, extremely high-poverty populations, factors like school culture, leadership, and instructional quality likely play a larger role than poverty alone. The data points to clear intervention needs: Greenwood High/Votech would benefit from stronger attendance and student support initiatives, while Amanda Elzy needs enhanced academic rigor and instructional quality. Despite Greenwood's recent momentum, both schools remain 10 to 40 points below state proficiency averages in core subjects, indicating that meaningful progress is possible but still far from closing the gap with state benchmarks.