Best Public Schools in Zip Code 39117

Zip code 39117 in Morton, Mississippi, is served by three public schools in the Scott County School District — Morton Elementary School (PK–4), Bettye Mae Jack Middle School (5–8), and Morton High School (9–12) — enrolling roughly 1,648 students, nearly all of whom (over 99%) come from economically disadvantaged households. The district itself ranks 54th out of 134 districts in Mississippi with a 3-star rating, but all three schools in this zip code currently hold 1-star ratings and rank in the bottom quarter of their school categories statewide.

Among the three, Bettye Mae Jack Middle School stands out as the brightest spot. It posted a perfect 100% Algebra I proficiency rate, far above the district (69%) and state (66%), and its chronic absenteeism rate of 21.4% is actually lower than both the district (33.6%) and state (23.9%) averages. Morton Elementary School shows the most improvement, climbing from the 9th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 23rd percentile in 2025-2026, with 3rd grade math proficiency (52.6%) exceeding the state average (48.8%). However, the elementary school remains weak in reading, and 4th grade math dropped to just 29.1%. Morton High School is the greatest concern: nearly half of its students (49.7%) are chronically absent, the graduation rate sits at just 76.4% compared to the state's 89.2%, and all End-of-Course test scores are well below state averages.

The most striking pattern is that absenteeism does not rise steadily by grade level — it drops at the middle school and then skyrockets at the high school, suggesting the transition to 9th grade is a critical breaking point. Math performance is also inconsistent across grade transitions, with strong 3rd grade results collapsing by 4th grade and bouncing around in middle school. The middle school's success, achieved under the same extreme poverty conditions as the other schools, proves that school-level leadership and targeted interventions can make a meaningful difference. The key takeaways are that the middle school's Algebra I and attendance strategies are worth studying, the high school needs urgent attention around attendance and graduation support, and the elementary school's early-grade math strength is a promising foundation worth building on.