1
What advice would you give to incoming students at DESOTO CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
2,004
High
DISTRICT 1,390 · STATE 651
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DESOTO COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 280132001569
DeSoto Central High School
2911 Central Parkway, Southaven, MS 38672 · (662) 536-3612 · DeSoto County
GRADES 09–13HIGH21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL2,004 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 53% of Mississippi public high schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Mississippi public high schools
Student : Teacher
17.8:1
112 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.8:1 · STATE 12.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
33%
654 students
DISTRICT 51% · STATE 80%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 533 | 27% |
| Grade 10 | 536 | 27% |
| Grade 11 | 489 | 24% |
| Grade 12 | 442 | 22% |
Student demographics
63%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 65% · STATE 62% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
MAAP 2024-25 . % Proficient + AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
61.3%
MS avg 45.9% . +0.2pp since 2023
Math
82.0%
MS avg 52.8% . +5.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the MAAP, Mississippi's statewide test, about 61 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 82 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Mississippi schools, those numbers are about 46 and 53. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores are up about 5 points.
MAAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 61.3% | 82.0% |
| 2023-24 | 61.1% | 77.0% |
% Proficient + Advanced, all students and all tested grades.
Source: MAAP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
72.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
78.0%
based on MS schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-5.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 72% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 78% typical for Mississippi schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Mississippi's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like DeSoto Central High School
DeSoto Central High School's state test result (72.1% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeSoto Central High School this school | 2,004 | 32.6% | 72.1% |
| Northwest High School Flowood | 1,855 | 32.1% | 77.5% |
| Clinton High School Clinton | 1,339 | 38.5% | 76.9% |
| Germantown High School Madison | 1,411 | 25.9% | 75.6% |
| Oxford High School Oxford | 1,335 | 45.2% | 73.5% |
| Ocean Springs High School Ocean Springs | 1,928 | 35.5% | 84.6% |
Matched among Mississippi high schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where DeSoto Central High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Mississippi | In DeSoto County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 72.1% | #40 of 192 | #5 of 8 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 82.0% | #34 of 199 ▲ 4 | #5 of 8 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 61.3% | #37 of 199 ▼ 8 | #4 of 8 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 2,004 | #2 of 203 | #1 of 8 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.8:1 | #188 of 192 | #8 of 8 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 63.4% | #17 of 192 | #2 of 8 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 32.6% | #187 of 194 | #6 of 8 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +13.5% | #18 of 63 | #3 of 6 |
Ranked against other public high schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
2,004
+163 (+9%) vs 2020
+34% since 2010-11, when it was 1,496
Student : Teacher
17.8:1
was 19.8:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 2,004 | 112.4 | 17.8:1 | 33% (654) |
| 2023-24 | 2,011 | 106.7 | 18.9:1 | 30% (611) |
| 2022-23 | 1,995 | 105.1 | 19.0:1 | 100% (1,992) |
| 2020-21 | 1,841 | 93 | 19.8:1 | 100% (1,838) |
| 2017-18 | 1,765 | 85.7 | 20.6:1 | 29% (512) |
| 2015-16 | 1,744 | 90 | 19.4:1 | 26% (451) |
| 2010-11 | 1,496 | 75 | 19.9:1 | 22% (325) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for DeSoto Central High School.
About DeSoto Central High School
DeSoto Central High School is a high-enrollment high school in Southaven, Mississippi. The school's 2,004 students are in grades 9 through 13. Statewide, high schools in Mississippi average about 651 students each.
DeSoto County School District has 39 schools and 34,934 students, and DeSoto Central High School is one of those schools.
DeSoto Central High School has no majority group; Black students are the largest, at 49%. Other reported shares: 35% White, 8% Hispanic, 5% multiracial, and 4% Asian. That compares with about 33% Black among all DeSoto County residents. The school's diversity index is 63%, meaning two students picked at random have a 63% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
The school has about 17.8 students per teacher and 112.4 full-time-equivalent teachers. The school has more students per teacher than the 12.6:1 average for high schools in Mississippi. About 33% of enrolled students meet the income rules for free or reduced-price lunch. For comparison, public schools in DeSoto County average 49%.
The allk12 Grade for DeSoto Central High School is B-. Compared with Mississippi public high schools, the school scored higher than 53% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
When test results are adjusted for free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, DeSoto Central High School is 5.9 points below its prediction. Actual: 72.1%. Predicted: 78.0%.
Census estimates describe DeSoto County this way: the median household income is $85,297, about 29% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 8%. In all, DeSoto County has 43 public schools and roughly 34,934 students.
The nearest other public school, DeSoto Central Middle School, is about 0.3 miles away. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. Compared with its nearest neighbors, DeSoto Central High School ranks 1st of 9 on average proficiency.
Locale data from NCES put DeSoto Central High School in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more (Suburb: Large).
Enrollment at DeSoto Central High School grew 9% between 2020-21 and 2024-25, from 1,841 to 2,004 students. In 2020-21, the student-to-teacher ratio was 19.8:1; by 2024-25 it was 17.8:1.
Discussions about DeSoto Central High School may include school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
DeSoto County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
191,301
Census ACS
Median income
$85,297
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
29%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
43
34,934 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in DeSoto County School District
- Southaven High SchoolHigh · 1,876 students
- Hernando High SchoolHigh · 1,529 students
- Southaven Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,423 students
- DeSoto Central Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,388 students
- Lewisburg High SchoolHigh · 1,330 students
- Horn Lake High SchoolHigh · 1,271 students
Other schools in Southaven
- Southaven High SchoolHigh · 1,876 students
- Southaven Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,423 students
- DeSoto Central Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,388 students
- Southaven Intermediate SchoolElementary · 1,046 students
- DeSoto Central ElementaryElementary · 831 students
- DeSoto Central Primary SchoolElementary · 792 students
Nearby schools
- DeSoto Central Middle School0.3 mi · 1,388
- DeSoto Central Elementary0.5 mi · 831
- DeSoto Central Primary School2.3 mi · 792
- Pleasant Hill Elementary School3.2 mi · 1,079
- Greenbrook Elementary School3.5 mi · 556
- Southaven Intermediate School3.7 mi · 1,046
Frequently asked questions
About DeSoto Central High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at DeSoto Central High School?
DeSoto Central High School enrolls approximately 2,004 students in grades 09-13.
What age range does DeSoto Central High School serve?
DeSoto Central High School serves students from grade 09 through grade 13.
How many teachers does DeSoto Central High School have?
DeSoto Central High School employs 112 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 17.8:1.
What is the student diversity at DeSoto Central High School?
Student demographics at DeSoto Central High School are roughly 35% White, 8% Hispanic, 49% Black, 4% Asian, 5% Two or more.
What district is DeSoto Central High School in?
DeSoto Central High School is part of DeSoto County School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.