Best Public Schools in Zip Code 39437

Zip code 39437 in Ellisville, Mississippi, is home to two public schools within the Jones County School District: South Jones Elementary School and South Jones High School. Together they serve grades PK through 12, with the elementary school enrolling 1,129 students and the high school enrolling 1,300 students. There is no standalone middle school, so students move directly from the elementary school onto the high school campus in 7th grade. The district is rated 4 stars and ranks 34th out of 134 districts in Mississippi, placing it in the 75th percentile statewide.

South Jones Elementary School is the stronger academic performer relative to state benchmarks. In 2025–2026, it exceeded state proficiency rates in nearly every subject and grade, including 6th-grade math (69.3% vs. 52.7% statewide) and 5th-grade science (73.5% vs. 71.5%). Its state ranking has improved steadily from #134 to #114 over three years, and both schools currently hold 4-star ratings. South Jones High School shines in end-of-course subjects, with Biology proficiency at 79.8% and Algebra I at 71.1%, both well above state averages. The high school also posts a strong graduation rate of 92.5%, above the state average of 89.2%.

The main concerns lie at the high school level. Chronic absenteeism is 29.4%, well above the district (23.1%) and state (23.9%) averages, while the elementary school sits below both at 19.9%. English Language Arts proficiency in 7th and 8th grade hovers around 40%, and 8th-grade science (42.8%) trails the state by 15 points — a sharp drop from the elementary school's strong 5th-grade science performance. Year-over-year scores also show volatility, including a 10.5-point decline in English II and a 12.5-point drop in 3rd-grade math. Despite these challenges, both schools serve similar economic profiles yet the elementary school consistently outperforms, suggesting school-level practices matter. If South Jones High School can improve attendance and middle-grades literacy, it has strong potential to match the momentum seen at South Jones Elementary School.