Summary:
The Lamar County School District in Mississippi is home to three middle schools: Oak Grove Middle School, Sumrall Middle School, and Purvis Middle School. Based on the data analysis, Sumrall Middle School emerges as the standout performer, ranking 17th out of 264 middle schools in the state and earning a 5-star rating from SchoolDigger.
Sumrall Middle School consistently outperforms the other two schools and the district/state averages in academic proficiency, with the highest proficiency rates in English Language Arts and Mathematics across all three grade levels. In 2023-2024, 67.1% of Sumrall's 8th graders were proficient or better in ELA, compared to 53.2% at Oak Grove and 53.8% at Purvis. Similarly, 77.7% of Sumrall's 7th graders were proficient or better in Math, compared to 63% at Oak Grove and 81.7% at Purvis.
While all three schools have very high percentages of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a significant economically disadvantaged student population, Sumrall Middle School also had the highest per-student spending at $7,097, compared to $6,425 at Oak Grove and $6,858 at Purvis. The racial demographics of the schools vary, with Oak Grove being more diverse and the other two schools having predominantly white student populations. These factors, along with the differences in student-teacher ratios, may contribute to the performance variations between the schools and warrant further exploration.
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