Summary:
There are two elementary schools in zip code 39202 in Jackson, Mississippi, serving grades K–5 and 4–5, both part of Jackson Public Schools. Despite the district's low 1-star rating, these schools are exceptional academic outliers. Barack Obama Elementary School is a K–5 school with 242 students and a 16.9:1 student-teacher ratio, while Wells APAC Elementary School serves only grades 4–5 with 40 students and an extremely low 6.4:1 ratio. Both schools have 100% free/reduced lunch eligibility, yet they consistently rank among the best in Mississippi.
The standout is Barack Obama Elementary, currently ranked #2 in the state for 2025–2026, up from #10 the previous year and #17 two years ago. Its test scores beat district and state averages by 30 to 50 percentage points across every subject and grade level. Wells APAC Elementary is also consistently top-tier, ranking #14 in 2024–2025 after being #4 the year before. Its tiny student body and small classes create a specialized learning environment, and it posted a perfect 100% proficiency in 5th-grade science. Both are 5-star schools inside a 1-star district, proving that district ratings can hide outstanding individual schools.
Attendance is a key strength at Barack Obama Elementary, where only 5.4% of students are chronically absent, compared to 30.1% districtwide and 23.9% statewide. This strong attendance likely fuels its rapid academic climb. One minor weakness is Wells APAC Elementary's 5th-grade math proficiency (61.9%), which lags its own 4th-grade score (84.2%), though it still beats the state average. Barack Obama also shows a slight 4th-grade dip in ELA and math, but remains far above district and state levels. Overall, these two schools demonstrate that high poverty does not determine low performance, and families in this zip code have access to some of the best elementary education in Mississippi.
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