Summary:
Hollandale, Mississippi, is served by three public schools in the Hollandale School District—Sanders Elementary School (PK–5), Simmons Junior High School (6–8), and Simmons High School (9–12)—serving about 534 students in a very high-poverty area where nearly all students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Simmons High School is the clear bright spot. It beats the state in Algebra I proficiency (68% vs. 66%), has a graduation rate of 91.7% (above the state’s 89.2%), and improved sharply in the latest rankings. Its English II scores, however, are far below the state average. Simmons Junior High is mixed: 7th grade ELA and 8th grade science are right at or above state averages, and 7th and 8th grade math are close, but 6th grade scores are very low. Sanders Elementary is more volatile, with huge swings between years—5th grade science jumped to 65.2% and 5th grade ELA rose to 47.8%, while 4th grade math collapsed to 10.3%. These swings likely reflect very small grade-level cohorts.
District-wide, English Language Arts is the biggest challenge, from 3rd grade through high school, with English II showing the widest gap. On the positive side, all three schools have chronic absenteeism below the state average of 23.9%, with Simmons Junior High the lowest at 19.4%. Also, the district’s strongest subjects are high school math and upper-grade science. One caution: Sanders Elementary is listed as PK–5, but its latest test data includes 6th–8th grade MAAP scores—this appears to be a reporting anomaly, so treat elementary-level comparisons carefully. Overall, families will find a high-poverty district with real pockets of success at the high school and upper-middle grades, but sustained literacy intervention is needed across all grade levels.
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