Best Public Schools in Columbus, MS

Summary:

The city of Columbus, Mississippi, is home to 13 schools serving students from elementary through high school, including 7 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 4 high schools. The data reveals a complex educational landscape, with standout high-performing schools like Mississippi School for Math and Science and New Hope Middle School coexisting alongside lower-performing institutions, particularly those in the Columbus Municipal School District.

The top-performing school in the data set is Mississippi School for Math and Science, which is ranked 1st out of 228 high schools in the state and rated 5 out of 5 stars by SchoolDigger. It boasts exceptional test scores, with 100% of students proficient in English II and 99.1% proficient in U.S. History. Another standout is New Hope Middle School, which ranks 75th out of 264 middle schools in the state and is rated 4 out of 5 stars, with strong performance across English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science.

Across the schools in the data set, there is a consistently high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, ranging from 99.51% to 100%, indicating a significant level of economic disadvantage among the student populations. The data also reveals stark disparities in academic performance, with some schools, such as New Hope High School and New Hope Middle School, outperforming the state averages, while others, like Columbus High School and Columbus Middle School, struggle with proficiency rates well below the state.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2024)				Ranking (2023)				MAAP English Language Arts (2024)						MAAP Mathematics (2024)						MAAP Algebra I (2024)	MAAP English II (2024)	MAAP Science (2024)		MAAP Biology (2024)	MAAP U.S. History1 (2024)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2022)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Statewide Rank (2023)	State Percentile (2023)	Rank Change from Previous Year	MAAP English Language Arts 3rd Grade	MAAP English Language Arts 4th Grade	MAAP English Language Arts 5th Grade	MAAP English Language Arts 6th Grade	MAAP English Language Arts 7th Grade	MAAP English Language Arts 8th Grade	MAAP Mathematics 3rd Grade	MAAP Mathematics 4th Grade	MAAP Mathematics 5th Grade	MAAP Mathematics 6th Grade	MAAP Mathematics 7th Grade	MAAP Mathematics 8th Grade	MAAP Algebra I End of Course	MAAP English II End of Course	MAAP Science 5th Grade	MAAP Science 8th Grade	MAAP Biology End of Course	MAAP U.S. History1 End of Course	Total
Mississippi School For Math And Science	Public, Magnet	11-12	5th Ave South and MSCW Dr	Columbus	39701	Lowndes County	Mississippi School For Math And Science	No	Yes	No	No	(662) 329-7672	231	22	10.6	98.7%	109 (47.2%)	52 (22.5%)	8 (3.5%)	45 (19.5%)	4 (1.7%)	1 (0.4%)	12 (5.2%)	97.8	1^st of 228 public high schools	99.6%		97	1^st of 226 public high schools	99.6%															100.0				99.1
Stokes Beard Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	311 Martin Luther King Dr.	Columbus	39701	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7270	365	29	12.6	100.0%	3 (0.8%)	353 (96.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.5%)	21.3	320^th of 390 public elementary schools	17.9%		13.6	343^rd of 377 public elementary schools	9.0%	23	29.3	51.3	38.9				13.8	32.5	33.4						61.1				$12,353
Columbus High School	Public	9-12	215 Hemlock Street	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7200	898	64	14.0	100.0%	27 (3.0%)	848 (94.4%)	11 (1.2%)	7 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.6%)	11.5	206^th of 228 public high schools	9.6%		9.8	210^th of 226 public high schools	7.1%	4													29.1	18.2			42.1	57.0	$14,624
Cook Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	2217 N Seventh Street	Columbus	39705	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7180	388	34	11.4	100.0%	20 (5.2%)	334 (86.1%)	14 (3.6%)	7 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.4%)	27.6	294^th of 390 public elementary schools	24.6%		29	285^th of 377 public elementary schools	24.4%	9	49.1	36.9	27.6				50.8	43.9	25.8						55.2				$14,058
Fairview Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	225 Airline Road	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7140	236	19	12.1	100.0%	5 (2.1%)	226 (95.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.7%)	35.2	262^nd of 390 public elementary schools	32.8%		15.9	334^th of 377 public elementary schools	11.4%	72	48.8	45.9	41.7				40.9	29.7	41.6						69.4				$11,708
Franklin Academy	Public	PK, KG-5	501 N Third Avenue	Columbus	39701	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7150	261	19	13.5	100.0%	14 (5.4%)	230 (88.1%)	3 (1.1%)	3 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (4.2%)	19.7	335^th of 390 public elementary schools	14.1%		30.6	278^th of 377 public elementary schools	26.3%	57	34.2	30.6	26.2				29.0	47.2	31.0						57.2				$12,811
Sale Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	520 Warpath Road	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7260	275	20	13.7	100.0%	7 (2.5%)	259 (94.2%)	5 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.5%)	26.9	297^th of 390 public elementary schools	23.8%		21.7	314^th of 377 public elementary schools	16.7%	17	34.8	34.2	41.3				26.1	21.1	45.6						69.5				$12,240
McKellar Vocational Center	Public	9-12	810 N Browder Street	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7290	0	11	.0		0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Cmsd Alternative School	Public, Alternative	K-12	1425 10th Ave North	Columbus	39701	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	No	(662) 241-7250	0	0			0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
New Hope Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	199 Enlow Road	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Lowndes County School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 244-4760	1,151	94	12.3	99.7%	607 (52.7%)	512 (44.5%)	6 (0.5%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (1.8%)	52.7	187^th of 390 public elementary schools	52.1%		59.5	147^th of 377 public elementary schools	61.0%	40	63.6	63.3	47.0				40.6	55.9	49.5						62.7				$10,045
New Hope High School	Public	9-12	2920 New Hope Road	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Lowndes County School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 244-4701	807	55	14.7	99.6%	384 (47.6%)	391 (48.5%)	11 (1.4%)	6 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	14 (1.7%)	48.4	128^th of 228 public high schools	43.9%		54.8	106^th of 226 public high schools	53.1%	22													68.8	46.7			60.4	61.1	$10,850
New Hope Middle School	Public	6-8	3419 New Hope Road	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Lowndes County School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 244-4740	613	47	13.1	99.5%	332 (54.2%)	267 (43.6%)	4 (0.7%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	5 (0.8%)	68.5	75^th of 264 public middle schools	71.6%		69.4	73^rd of 243 public middle schools	70.0%	2				41.5	43.5	50.0				63.4	60.0	62.1	100.0			62.3			$10,721
Lowndes County Alternative School	Public, Alternative	PK, KG-12	3419 New Hope Road	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Lowndes County School District	No	No	No	No	(662) 244-5060	0	1	.0		0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Lowndes County Vocational Complex	Public	9-12	1085 Lehmberg Road	Columbus	39702	Lowndes County	Lowndes County School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 244-5038	0	0			0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Columbus Middle School	Public	6-8	175 Highway 373	Columbus	39705	Lowndes County	Columbus Municipal School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 241-7300	667	50	13.3	100.0%	14 (2.1%)	627 (94.0%)	15 (2.2%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (1.5%)	12.6	240^th of 264 public middle schools	9.1%		10.5	227^th of 243 public middle schools	6.6%	13				20.0	19.8	19.8				26.3	26.8	28.1				40.6			$12,781
West Lowndes High School	Public	7-12	644 South Frontage Road	Columbus	39701	Lowndes County	Lowndes County School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 244-5070	246	28	8.7	100.0%	7 (2.8%)	238 (96.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	22.5	180^th of 228 public high schools	21.1%		10.3	209^th of 226 public high schools	7.5%	29					24.0	17.2					44.0	48.2	78.6	10.6		48.2	40.7	55.6	$17,024
West Lowndes Elementary	Public	PK, KG-6	1000 Gilmer Wilburn Road	Columbus	39701	Lowndes County	Lowndes County School District	No	No	No	Yes	(662) 244-5050	234	27	8.6	100.0%	8 (3.4%)	222 (94.9%)	2 (0.9%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	43.4	225^th of 390 public elementary schools	42.3%		38.1	245^th of 377 public elementary schools	35.0%	20	67.6	41.6	30.3	32.0			35.1	29.2	51.6	56.0					75.8				$15,513

Cities Near Columbus

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
West Point	10.4 mi	15
Caledonia	12.24 mi	3	7^th
Hamilton	14.45 mi	1
Starkville	16.12 mi	16
Crawford	20.21 mi	1

See the top MS Mississippi cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Mississippi Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.