Summary:
Zip code 39735 is home to just one high school, Choctaw County High School, which serves grades 7 through 12 in Ackerman, Mississippi, and enrolls 511 students.
Choctaw County High School stands out for serving an exceptionally high-poverty student body—99.41% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch—yet it still manages to graduate students at a rate of 92.9%, above the state average of 89.2%. The school also enjoys a very favorable student-teacher ratio of 9:1, suggesting small class sizes. However, academic performance is mixed and has declined recently. Compared to the 2024-2025 school year, proficiency dropped sharply in 2025-2026 across most subjects, including Algebra I (from 55.8% to 42.9%), Biology (from 72.8% to 55.7%), and 8th grade math (from 56.9% to 43.0%). The biggest concern is Algebra I, where only 42.9% of students are proficient versus a 66.0% state average—a gap of over 23 points. On the positive side, 7th grade math is a clear bright spot, with 70.6% proficiency in 2025-2026, well above the state's 57.7%.
The school's overall ranking has been volatile, moving from the 36th percentile in 2023-2024, up to the 56th percentile in 2024-2025, then down to the 31st percentile in 2025-2026, earning only 2 stars. Meanwhile, the Choctaw County Schools district as a whole ranks in the 73rd percentile with a 4-star rating, suggesting other schools in the district are performing better than the high school. Chronic absenteeism at 23.7% is right at the state average but well above the district average of 16.5%. For parents, this is a school with strong graduation outcomes and small classes, but academic challenges—especially in Algebra I and 8th grade English—are significant and have worsened over the past year.
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