Summary:
In Cedarbluff, Mississippi, there is just one public school—West Clay Elementary School—serving students in grades PK through 6 within the West Point Consolidated School District.
West Clay Elementary is a small school with only 111 students and a low student-teacher ratio of 10.4 to 1, which means children get plenty of individual attention. About 91% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, so the school serves a high-poverty community, yet it still has some impressive bright spots. The 5th grade class stands out dramatically: in the most recent school year, 72.8% were proficient in English Language Arts, 72.7% in math, and a remarkable 81.9% in science—all well above both district and state averages. Sixth graders also beat the state in math (64.3% vs. 52.7%), and the school's overall ELA average of 50.9% nearly matches the state's 51.2%. On top of that, chronic absenteeism is a positive outlier at just 19.0%—about 9 points better than the district rate of 28.1% and 5 points better than the state rate of 23.9%—showing that students are showing up to learn even amid economic challenges.
However, not every grade is performing at the same level. Early-grade math is a real concern: only 20.0% of 3rd and 4th graders are proficient in math, far below the state average of around 49–52%. Teaching quality is likely fine, but these low scores suggest a gap that needs attention before students reach upper grades. Because the school is so small, year-to-year swings can be dramatic—for example, 4th grade math dropped from 72.8% to 20.0% in just one year, and 6th grade ELA jumped from 18.2% to 57.2%. These shifts probably reflect tiny class sizes rather than major changes in the school. Overall, West Clay's state rank has bounced around the middle, currently sitting at 181st out of 377 schools (52nd percentile, 3 stars). It is a school with genuine strengths in upper elementary and strong attendance, but with clear work needed to build more consistent achievement in the lower grades.
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