Ripley-area students who earned perfect MAAP scores on last spring’s state tests were recognized by the South Tippah School Board during its Sept. 22 meeting, with parents and family members filling the board room at the Oscar Shannon building in Ripley to celebrate the achievement.
The recognition, reported this week by the Southern Sentinel, honored students who posted flawless results on the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) tests given during the 2025-26 school year. Ripley Middle School also shared the news on its official Facebook page, saying its students were recognized at the board meeting “for their hard work, dedication, and commitment to excellence.”
Perfect MAAP Scores Across Several Subjects
MAAP is the state’s annual end-of-year testing program, and the students honored at the meeting reached the top of the scale in the subjects Mississippi measures. Those tests include:
English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics in grades 3 through 8
Science in grades 5 and 8
High school end-of-course exams in English II, Algebra I and Biology
A perfect score on any of these assessments is rare. MAAP results are sorted into five achievement levels, from Minimal to Advanced, and a perfect score is the highest possible result within the top level. Some students were recognized for perfect marks in more than one subject.
Building on a Strong Year for South Tippah
The honors cap a solid testing year for the district. When 2025-26 MAAP results were released in August, South Tippah ranked 35th of 136 Mississippi districts, landing around the 75th percentile statewide on a composite measure. Ripley Middle School placed 32nd of 98 comparable middle schools, with fifth-grade math and science among its strongest areas, while Ripley High School’s Biology results were among the best in the state, with 85.5 percent of students scoring proficient or advanced.
The board-meeting ceremony gave the district a chance to put individual students in the spotlight alongside those broader numbers.
What Comes Next for Ripley Students
Students across the South Tippah School District will take the next round of MAAP assessments in the spring of 2027. Parents with questions about their child’s test results or academic support options can contact their child’s school or the South Tippah School District central office in Ripley.
Tippah News congratulates every student honored for a perfect score, along with the teachers and families who helped them get there.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
