The flagship school of the Petal School District has once again earned statewide and national recognition, as Petal High School was recently named by U.S. News & World Report as No. 1 in the Hattiesburg metro area high school category in its recent 2024 Best High Schools report.
In addition to that ranking, the school also was ranked at No. 6 in Mississippi high schools and in the Top 13 percent throughout the United States.
“These are one of the reports that we look at every year, because it’s presented on a national level,” said Matt Dillon, superintendent of the Petal School District. “Often, we talk about our district being ‘Mississippi Great,’ but we also want our kids to be recognized and on a platform at the national level.
“Just looking at this ranking, it hits on all categories – local, statewide and national – and from a local standpoint, to be the top-rated high school in the Pine Belt is pretty special. To take it a step further and to be so high-ranked in Mississippi, and then from there, out of 18,000 high schools across the nation, it’s just a testament to the hard work of our great faculty, staff and our students.”
The 2024 edition of Best High Schools includes a numerical ranking of almost 18,000 public high schools nationwide, as well as detailed school-specific information on enrollment, graduation rates, student body demographics, location, school type and results of state assessments, as well as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests.
“This is a result of (all of our people working together) for the good,” Dillon said. “We’re just so excited to celebrate our high school, and really our school district as a whole.
“The foundation skills (the students) are given in prior grades leading up to that puts us in a really good spot, so it’s always good to have feedback like this to see where we rank at the state and national level.
“We’re so proud of the results.”
Among its many other accomplishments, in May 2022 U.S. News & World Report ranked Petal High School as the No. 1 high school in the Hattiesburg metro area, No. 3 in Mississippi high schools and in the top 40 percent nationwide. Ranking factors for that assessment included College Readiness Index Rank, College Curriculum Breadth Index Rank, State Assessment Proficiency Rank, State Assessment Performance Rank and Graduation Rate Rank.
“This is a community that values education; this is a community that understands the importance of working hard inside the classroom and outside the classroom in academics, arts and athletics,” Dillon said. “It’s everyone working toward a common goal, which is giving our kids the very best, and it’s a team effort.
“It’s our staff – both certified and non-certified – to support from our school board, and then to students who buy in to what we’re doing and building relationships with teachers. Then families support us at home by doing homework and preparing for assessments, and preparing for things that we think are important. It’s a partnership, and we do not take it for granted.”
