18 public K-12 schools in Meridian from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.
National city placement
According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Meridian has more public-school enrollment than 79% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Meridian sits in the broad middle of the national city distribution rather than at a single obvious extreme. Its scale, average Resource Investment Index, and staffing position need to be read together: a middle placement on one measure does not cancel a stronger or weaker result on another. The percentile panel makes those dimensions explicit, and the school table shows where the city aggregate breaks into materially different campus profiles.
11 of Meridian's 18 listed schools use NCES's combined or “other” grade-level classification. Citywide averages therefore blend campuses serving unusually broad or nonstandard grade spans with conventional elementary, middle, and high schools. Grade configuration is a first-order comparison here, not a minor label.
The 38-point gap between Poplar Springs Elementary School and Northeast Lauderdale High School shows the range hidden by Meridian's average Resource Investment Index. The city figure is useful for national placement, but families ultimately choose among campuses with different grade spans, enrollment, district affiliations, and reported support fields. Start with schools serving the relevant grade level, then compare the index components rather than assuming the city average describes any one classroom.
Meridian school enrollment ranges from 328 students (lowest) to 1,253 students (highest), a spread of 925 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous school portfolio for a city this size. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
The reported share is at least 75%, indicating a high concentration of measured economic need. Title I operates under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), but its statutory allocation uses additional LEA-level counts and rules not represented by this average. This percentage is an economic-need context measure; it does not establish a Title I award, show dollars received, or describe how funds are distributed among campuses.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
| # | School | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Poplar Springs Elementary School | 58 |
| 2. | T J Harris Elementary | 50 |
| 3. | Magnolia Middle School | 49 |
| 4. | Parkview Elementary School | 47 |
| 5. | Oakland Heights Elementary School | 47 |
| 6. | Northeast Lauderdale Elementary | 46 |
| 7. | West Hills Elementary School | 46 |
| 8. | Northwest Junior High School | 45 |
| 9. | Clarkdale Elementary School | 44 |
| 10. | Crestwood Elementary School | 44 |
| 11. | West Lauderdale Elementary School | 43 |
| 12. | Southeast Lauderdale Middle School | 41 |
| 13. | Southeast Lauderdale Elementary | 38 |
| 14. | Meridian High School | 36 |
| 15. | Northeast Lauderdale Middle School | 33 |
| 16. | Southeast Lauderdale High School | 26 |
| 17. | Clarkdale High School | 24 |
| 18. | Northeast Lauderdale High School | 20 |
Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.
Poplar Springs Elementary School has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Meridian schools in this federal-data comparison at 58/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.
Meridian has 18 public schools with a total enrollment of 9,367 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 13.7:1.
Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in Mississippi →
Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.
