Summary:
The city of Aberdeen, Mississippi has only one middle school, Belle Shivers Middle School, which serves students in grades 6-8. The school is part of the Aberdeen School District, which is ranked 100 out of 130 school districts in the state and has a 1-star rating.
Belle Shivers Middle School has faced significant academic challenges, with student performance on state assessments consistently falling below state averages across grade levels and subject areas. For example, in the 2024-2025 school year, English Language Arts proficiency rates ranged from 19.4% to 31.1%, compared to state averages of 37.3% to 55.9%. Similarly, Mathematics proficiency rates ranged from 20% to 62.7%, compared to state averages of 47.5% to 55.5%. The school's statewide ranking has fluctuated in recent years, ranging from 172nd out of 243 middle schools in 2022-2023 to 176th out of 266 middle schools in 2024-2025.
Factors that may contribute to the school's academic struggles include a high chronic absenteeism rate of 23.9% and a student population where 100% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high-poverty student population. While the school has a relatively low student-teacher ratio of 10.8, this advantage does not appear to be translating into improved academic outcomes. Overall, the data suggests that Belle Shivers Middle School faces significant challenges in terms of student performance, school quality, and socioeconomic factors, and the district and school leaders may need to implement comprehensive strategies to address these issues.
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