Summary:
Fayette, Mississippi is served by just one middle school: Jefferson County Middle School, part of the Jefferson County School District. The school serves students in grades 6 through 8 and has an enrollment of 240 students. It is a high-poverty school, with 98.75% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, yet its chronic absenteeism rate of 16.0% is well below the state average of 23.9%. The student-teacher ratio of 12.6:1 also provides a foundation for individualized attention.
The school's standout performance is in 8th grade science, where 65.8% of students scored proficient in 2025-2026, exceeding the state average of 57.8%. This represents a huge 26.6 percentage-point jump from the prior year. Eighth grade mathematics also improved sharply, rising from 19.0% to 42.1% proficiency, and 8th grade ELA improved by 11.4 points. These gains helped the school's statewide ranking climb from 243rd (9th percentile) in 2024-2025 to 194th (25th percentile) in 2025-2026. Since Jefferson County Middle School is the only middle school in its district, its test scores are identical to the district's — meaning the school's improvements directly drive district-level outcomes.
While the 8th grade results are encouraging, the largest challenges remain in 7th grade math (24.6% proficient vs. 57.7% statewide), 6th grade math (23.9% vs. 52.7%), and 7th grade ELA (17.0% vs. 36.7%). The 7th grade ELA score is the school's lowest, though it did improve from 11.1% the previous year. With a favorable student-teacher ratio and strong attendance, Jefferson County Middle School is well-positioned to build on its recent progress and target support for its youngest middle schoolers.
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