JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – On Friday, the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) announced that 46 high schools in the state received the prestigious 2022 College Success Award from GreatSchools.org.
“This is a unique award, and it’s an award that uses strictly data to come up with schools that are doing an exceptional job at preparing kids for college, but not just preparing kids for college. Actually, they are having success once they leave the doors of their high school. They are enrolling in college, and they are able to persist or take college-level courses successfully,” explained Carrie Goux, Executive Vice President of GreatSchools.
The 46 Mississippi high schools are:
- Baldwyn High School
- Biggersville High School
- Booneville High School
- Brandon High School
- Center Hill High School
- Clinton High School
- DeSoto Central High School
- East Central High School
- East Union Attendance Center
- Enterprise High School
- Germantown High School
- Golden Triangle Early College
- Grenada High School
- Ingomar Attendance Center
- Lafayette High School
- Lewisburg High School
- Loyd Star School
- Madison Central High School
- Mississippi School for Math and Science
- Mississippi School of the Arts
- Murrah High School
- Natchez Early College Academy
- Neshoba Central High School
- Northeast Lauderdale High School
- Northwest Rankin High School
- Noxapater Attendance Center
- Oak Grove High School
- Ocean Springs High School
- Oxford High School
- Pearl High School
- Petal High School
- Pine Grove High School
- Pisgah High School
- Ray Brooks School
- Richland High School
- Ridgeland High School
- Saltillo High School
- Shaw High School
- Stone High School
- Thrasher High School
- Tupelo High School
- Wesson Attendance Center
- West Bolivar High School
- West Lauderdale High School
- West Lincoln School
- Winona Secondary School
Now in its fifth year, the annual recognition honors public high schools that are doing an exceptional job at preparing students to enroll and succeed in college, as determined by available data in each state.
“It’s not easy, these kids are faced with a lot. I would say that these schools are doing a fantastic job at making sure these kids get what they need so that they are prepared. This world is a crazy world we live in and these kids have had to be resilient, and they’ve learned skills that they probably didn’t know they had to learn. High schools are doing a fantastic job at trying to keep our education at a high quality, and these schools are really exceptional and should be commended for preparing our kids. Keep up the hard work, be grateful for what your high school has done for you and carry that gratitude into your college years and your career years and take advantage of every opportunity that you can see in front of you, and look for those places that are going to offer you great opportunities too for every single kid,” stated Goux.
Mississippi’s recipients are among 1,742 winners from 25 states that have demonstrated successful track records of graduating students who enroll in two or four-year colleges, are ready for college-level coursework, and persist on to their second year. Despite the many challenges brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic, these schools have continued to uphold many best practices to support their students’ college preparation and success.
“We applaud Mississippi for prioritizing a high-quality public education that puts students on the path to bright futures,” said Jon Deane, CEO of GreatSchools. “It’s inspiring to see how entire school communities students, teachers, and families can work together in pursuit of a common goal: success for all. Congratulations to these 46 schools for receiving the College Success Award as proof of their hard work and dedication.”
The College Success Award is possible because Mississippi is leading the nation in both collecting and transparently sharing information on how students perform after high school.
