Summary:
Zip code 39437 in Ellisville, Mississippi, is served by one high school: South Jones High School, a grades 7–12 campus in the Jones County School District enrolling about 1,300 students. With a 13.4:1 student-teacher ratio and 64.46% of students receiving free/reduced lunch, the school holds a 4-star rating and ranks 61st out of 224 high schools in Mississippi (73rd percentile) for 2025-2026, while its district ranks 34th out of 134 districts statewide (75th percentile).
Academically, South Jones shows clear strengths in graduation and end-of-course exams. The 2024-2025 graduation rate of 92.5% exceeds both the district (92.2%) and state (89.2%). In 2025-2026, Algebra I proficiency reached 71.1% (state: 66.0%), Biology hit 79.8% (state: 63.1%), and U.S. History EOC scored 83.1% in 2024-2025 (state: 69.7%). Math is the school's academic identity: 7th-grade math proficiency is 71.2% versus just 40.3% in ELA, and 8th-grade math reaches 58.2% versus 39.8% in ELA. However, 8th-grade science is a persistent weakness at 42.8% proficiency in 2025-2026, a 15-point deficit versus the state (57.8%), with nearly identical results the prior year.
The school's biggest concern is chronic absenteeism at 29.4% in 2023-2024, notably higher than the district (23.1%) and state (23.9%). Given the significant economic need among students, attendance may be an important lever for improving weaker subjects. State ranking has fluctuated recently—from 57th in 2023-2024 to 44th in 2024-2025 and back to 61st in 2025-2026—though the school remains in the top quartile statewide. Because South Jones serves grades 7 through 12, its accountability data mixes middle-school and high-school assessments, making direct comparisons with traditional high schools less straightforward but underscoring its role as a comprehensive education center for the Ellisville area.
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