Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 39051

Zip code 39051 in the Carthage, Mississippi area contains three elementary schools serving approximately 1,086 students from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade: Leake Central Elementary School, Standing Pine Elementary School, and Red Water Elementary School. Leake Central is by far the largest, with 850 students (78% of combined enrollment), while the other two schools each serve fewer than 120 students. Notably, only Leake Central has test scores, accountability rankings, and chronic absenteeism data; Standing Pine and Red Water are listed with their own school names as districts and have no academic performance data available in this dataset.

Leake Central Elementary School stands out as the only school in the zip code with a state accountability ranking, earning 1 star and improving from 340th to 318th out of 377 Mississippi elementary schools between 2024-2025 and 2025-2026. The school operates under the Leake County School District and has a 15.8:1 student-teacher ratio. In contrast, Red Water Elementary School serves grades K-8 with just 117 students and a remarkably low 5.8:1 student-teacher ratio, while Standing Pine Elementary School serves K-6 with 119 students and a 7.6:1 ratio. These two small schools offer far more individualized learning environments than Leake Central.

Every school in zip code 39051 serves a high-poverty population, with free/reduced lunch rates ranging from 97.44% at Red Water to exactly 100% at Leake Central. Despite this, Leake Central's chronic absenteeism rate of 14.8% is roughly 9 points below both the district and state averages. Academically, Leake Central improved from 31.1% to 35.7% average proficiency in 2025-2026, but still trails state averages significantly—for example, 4th-grade math proficiency sits at 16.3% versus 51.5% statewide. Fifth-grade science is a relative strength at 59.0% proficiency. Test scores at Leake Central show considerable year-to-year swings, including 3rd-grade ELA jumping from 12.1% to 30.3% proficient, suggesting inconsistent instructional outcomes across grade levels without available data for the smaller schools.