Small town Mississippi school receives top 5 ranking

SMITH CO., Miss. (WLBT) - With graduation season in full swing, tonight we salute a small-town rural school in Smith County for making state and national headlines.

Raleigh High School ranked in the top 5 on the U.S. News and World Report Best High Schools List for Mississippi. The data included the school’s graduation rate, college readiness, and state assessment scores.

I traveled to the school to get reactions and find out what are they doing to make the grade. You may wonder how the small town got such a prestigious honor.

Students and staff say it all comes down to academics and relationships. The 458 students who walk the halls of Raleigh High School have a lot to be proud of. They say the honor is surprising and exciting.

“I was shocked,” Anistyn Ivy, the Valedictorian for the 2024 Class, said. “I know we have worked hard, and we have been a part of the hard work, but it wouldn’t seem like anything that would be in the possibility for such a small school.”

The high school sits in a rural Mississippi area where access, resources, and funding are often sparse compared to bigger cities.

“I think a lot of people think we can’t compete with bigger schools just because we may not have the money or resources, but we have great students that can perform against any other students in the United States,” said Cisly Boykin, a teacher at Raleigh High School.

Staci Hughes is the high school’s principal. She took over when the school was just one point away from being an F institution. Hughes says the school and district began focusing on improving graduation rates through new resources such as the College and Career Course.

“They apply to different colleges, they take the ACT, they take other tests, [and] they learn how to write resumes,” Hughes said.

They also increased attendance numbers due to student/teacher relationships and community partnerships.

“We did a comprehensive needs assessment and we found out that sometimes families didn’t feel comfortable being here, so I worked on my relationship with families,” Hughes said.

The school also boosted student performance thanks to improved teacher performance through daily group meetings.

“And also, I think the ability to have technology and show a different way through a video and show it through hands-on [instruction] from a teacher,” Boykin said. “I just think the different ways that we are showing these kids have really helped promote learning.”

Time is also spent with students who may need extra help on certain standards.

Those educational improvements are resulting in big-time success for the small-town school.

“We’ve been an A school for two consecutive years, and our graduation rate went from 85% to 96%,” Hughes said.

“I feel like we have so much pride in our small school,” Ivy said. “We’re not ashamed to be a small school. We’re not ashamed to not have as much money as other places, because look where it got us. We are still in the top five, and we can still do as much as any other school.”

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