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What's one thing MERIDIAN HIGH SCHOOL gets right about preparing students for what comes next?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,253
High
DISTRICT 487 · STATE 651
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MERIDIAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 280291000567
Meridian High School
2320 32nd Street, Meridian, MS 39305 · (601) 482-3191 · Lauderdale County
GRADES 09–13HIGH33-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,253 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 4% of Mississippi public high schools
- FTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats 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
11.0:1
114 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.9:1 · STATE 12.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
100%
1,250 students
DISTRICT 100% · 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 | 273 | 22% |
| Grade 10 | 347 | 28% |
| Grade 11 | 313 | 25% |
| Grade 12 | 318 | 25% |
Student demographics
15%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 17% · 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
28.7%
MS avg 45.9% . -2.1pp since 2023
Math
31.8%
MS avg 52.8% . -5.2pp since 2023
What this means: On the MAAP, Mississippi's statewide test, about 29 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 32 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Mississippi schools, those numbers are about 46 and 53. Reading and writing scores are down about 2 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 5 points.
MAAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 28.7% | 31.8% |
| 2023-24 | 30.8% | 37.0% |
% 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
33.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
44.2%
based on MS schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-11.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 33% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 44% 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 Meridian High School
Meridian High School's state test result (33.0% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meridian High School this school | 1,253 | 99.8% | 33.0% |
| Forest Hill High School Jackson | 1,139 | 100.0% | 37.5% |
| Murrah High School Jackson | 1,259 | 99.9% | 47.1% |
| Jim Hill High School Jackson | 975 | 99.9% | 44.6% |
| Callaway High School Jackson | 994 | 100.0% | 45.8% |
| Columbus High School Columbus | 865 | 99.8% | 35.3% |
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 Meridian High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Mississippi |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 33.0% | #184 of 192 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 31.8% | #179 of 199 ▼ 15 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 28.7% | #164 of 199 ▼ 24 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,253 | #26 of 203 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.0:1 | #43 of 192 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 14.5% | #166 of 192 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 99.8% | #47 of 194 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -12.7% | #43 of 121 |
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
1,253
-27 (-2%) vs 2020
-17% since 1990-91, when it was 1,512
Student : Teacher
11.0:1
was 12.8:1
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 | 1,253 | 113.6 | 11.0:1 | 100% (1,250) |
| 2023-24 | 1,314 | 96 | 13.7:1 | 100% (1,314) |
| 2022-23 | 1,301 | 91.4 | 14.2:1 | 100% (1,301) |
| 2020-21 | 1,280 | 100 | 12.8:1 | 100% (1,280) |
| 2017-18 | 1,435 | 82.5 | 17.4:1 | 100% (1,435) |
| 2015-16 | 1,471 | 81 | 18.2:1 | 100% (1,471) |
| 2010-11 | 1,689 | 107 | 15.8:1 | 79% (1,334) |
| 2000-01 | 1,448 | 73 | 19.8:1 | 75% (1,085) |
| 1990-91 | 1,512 | 93 | 16.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Meridian High School.
About Meridian High School
Meridian High School is a public high school run by Meridian Public Schools in Meridian, Mississippi. It is open to students in grades 9 through 13 and enrolls 1,253 students. High schools in Mississippi have about 651 students on average; enrollment here is 92% higher.
A total of 9 schools make up Meridian Public Schools, with 4,385 students enrolled.
Meridian High School is 92% Black by enrollment. Beyond that, enrollment is 4% Hispanic and 2% White. In Lauderdale County overall, about 41% of residents are Black. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Meridian High School scores 15%.
On staff are 113.6 full-time-equivalent teachers; the student-to-teacher ratio is 11.0:1. High schools in Mississippi average 12.6:1, 1.6 more students per teacher than here. Meridian High School has a free or reduced-price lunch rate of 100%. On average, public schools in Lauderdale County report 75%.
Meridian High School holds an F allk12 Grade, placing it above 4% of Mississippi public high schools.
Meridian High School sits between the top and bottom 10% of Mississippi schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate across its state test results of 33.0% and a predicted 44.2%.
The county, Lauderdale County, is where the school is located. Median household income comes to about $50,817, about 24% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 19% of residents are in poverty. The county has 24 public schools and about 10,325 students.
Of the public schools around it, Meridian High School is closest to Parkview Elementary, about 0.7 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. Compared with its nearest neighbors, Meridian High School ranks 5th of 9 on average proficiency.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as Town: Remote, meaning it is in a town far from an urbanized area.
The school's size has been steady, with 1,280 students in 2020-21 and 1,253 in 2024-25. The number of students per teacher dropped from 12.8 to 11.0 over 4 years.
People who know Meridian High School can post here about open houses, carpools, and field trips. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Lauderdale County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
71,504
Census ACS
Median income
$50,817
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
24%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
19%
Below federal line
Schools in county
24
10,325 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Meridian Public Schools
- Carver Elementary SchoolElementary · 506 students
- Northwest Middle SchoolMiddle · 484 students
- Magnolia Middle SchoolMiddle · 440 students
- West Hills ElementaryElementary · 423 students
- Poplar Springs ElementaryElementary · 405 students
- Crestwood ElementaryElementary · 368 students
Other schools in Meridian
- West Lauderdale Elementary SchoolElementary · 761 students
- Northeast Elementary SchoolElementary · 730 students
- Northeast High SchoolHigh · 608 students
- Southeast Elementary SchoolElementary · 562 students
- Clarkdale Elementary SchoolElementary · 527 students
- Northeast Middle SchoolMiddle · 520 students
Other Meridian High schools
7 other US public schools in 7 states are named Meridian High. Meridian High School is the 2nd largest of the 8.
- MERIDIAN HIGH SCHOOLMERIDIAN, ID · 1,774 students
- Meridian HighFalls Church, VA · 893 students
- Meridian High SchoolBELLINGHAM, WA · 534 students
- Meridian High SchoolMacon, IL · 287 students
- Meridian High SchoolMERIDIAN, TX · 212 students
Nearby schools
- Parkview Elementary0.7 mi · 364
- Magnolia Middle School0.7 mi · 440
- Poplar Springs Elementary0.8 mi · 405
- West Hills Elementary1.0 mi · 423
- Northwest Middle School1.2 mi · 484
- Meridian PreK Academy1.6 mi · 142
Frequently asked questions
About Meridian High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Meridian High School?
Meridian High School enrolls approximately 1,253 students in grades 09-13.
What grades does Meridian High School serve?
Meridian High School serves grades 09-13.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Meridian High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Meridian High School is approximately 11.0:1 (114 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Meridian High School?
At Meridian High School, the student body is approximately 2% White, 4% Hispanic, 92% Black, 0% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Is Meridian High School public or private?
Meridian High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Meridian Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.