Best High Schools in Zip Code 39151

Zip code 39151 in Mississippi contains just one high school, Puckett High School, a grades 7-12 school with 343 students in the Rankin County School District. This small school serves a community where 48.4% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and it maintains a highly favorable 9.9:1 student-teacher ratio that supports personalized instruction.

Puckett High School has several clear strengths. Its 96.2% graduation rate for 2024-2025 outpaces both the district's 94.6% and the state's 89.2%. Seventh-grade math is a bright spot, with 78.1% of students proficient in 2025-2026, well above the district's 70.7% and the state's 57.7%. Chronic absenteeism at 17.7% is below the state's 23.9%, though slightly above the district's 13.7%. However, the school's ranking has been volatile, dropping from the 79th percentile (4 stars) in 2024-2025 to the 42nd percentile (2 stars) in 2025-2026, so caution is warranted when interpreting any single year of data.

The most striking pattern is the gap between 7th and 8th grade performance. While 7th-grade math and ELA scores exceed district averages, 8th-grade scores fall well behind—8th-grade ELA proficiency is 31.7% versus the district's 52.4%, and 8th-grade math is 45.0% versus the district's 61.7%. End-of-course exams also trail the district, with Algebra I, English II, Biology, and 8th-grade science all below Rankin County averages. Year-over-year, Algebra I fell 15.4 points and English II fell 12.2 points, contributing to the ranking drop. For parents, the clearest areas needing attention are 8th-grade literacy and math, Algebra I, and Biology, all of which lag both the district and state.