Best Public Schools in Zip Code 39654

Zip code 39654, serving the Monticello, Mississippi area through the Lawrence County School District, contains four public schools — two elementary-level schools, one middle school, and one high school — that collectively educate approximately 1,415 students in grades K–12. The district itself ranks 72 out of 134 Mississippi districts, placing it in the 46th percentile with a 2-star rating, but the individual schools range from a 4-star standout to a 0-star school near the bottom of the state. Families in this area should be aware that school quality varies dramatically depending on which school their child attends.

The clear standout is Topeka - Tilton School, which ranks 100 out of 377 elementary schools — the 73rd percentile with a 4-star rating. This is especially impressive because 80.2% of its students qualify for free or reduced lunch, the second-highest poverty rate in the area. It has improved rapidly over three years, going from 2 stars to 4 stars, and beats the state in 3rd, 4th, and 6th grade ELA and math. Rod Paige Middle School is also a consistent bright spot, holding steady at the 64th percentile with 3 stars, and it has the lowest student-teacher ratio in the area at 9.8 students per teacher. Its 8th grade science proficiency of 72.1% is the strongest middle-school result in the zip code.

On the other end, Lawrence County High School ranks at the 19th percentile with 1 star and a concerning 46.5% chronic absenteeism rate — nearly double the state rate of 23.9% — along with a graduation rate of 81.2% that trails the state's 89.2%. Monticello Elementary is the lowest-ranked school, sitting in the bottom 7% of the state with 0 stars, and its math proficiency is alarmingly low, with just 11.7% of 3rd graders proficient in math versus 48.8% statewide. The main takeaway: high poverty does not automatically mean low performance, since Topeka - Tilton School outperforms despite high poverty, while attendance and math instruction seem to be the biggest challenges facing the district's weakest schools.