Summary:
The Kosciusko School District serves roughly 1,973 students across five schools in Kosciusko, Mississippi, spanning pre-kindergarten through 12th grade and earning a 3-star rating that places it in the 61st percentile of Mississippi districts. The district includes three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school, all of which serve a high-poverty student population, with free/reduced lunch rates between roughly 77% and 87%. Overall, the district's strongest academic performers are its elementary and middle schools, while the high school lags behind its peers.
Among the standout schools, Kosciusko Junior High School leads in math acceleration, with Algebra I proficiency reaching 100% in 2024–2025 and 82.8% in 2025–2026, far exceeding state averages. Kosciusko Upper Elementary is the district's most improved school by state ranking, climbing from the 56th to the 64th percentile over three years, with strong 4th-grade math (63.6% vs. 51.5% statewide) and 5th-grade science (74.2% vs. 71.5%). Kosciusko Lower Elementary has no test data but posts the district's lowest chronic absenteeism rate at 13.3%, well below the state average of 23.9%. Kosciusko Middle Elementary is a concern, as 3rd-grade math proficiency collapsed from 63.2% to 43.6% in one year.
Chronic absenteeism rises sharply with grade level, affecting more than one in four students at both Kosciusko Junior High School and Kosciusko Senior High School. The high school sits at the 46th percentile in state rankings, making it the district's weakest link, with Biology proficiency swinging dramatically from 77.2% to 57.6% in a single year. Science performance also declines with grade level, as the district exceeds state averages in 5th grade but falls behind in 8th grade and high school Biology. For parents, the biggest strengths are elementary math and science, middle-school Algebra acceleration, and improving Upper Elementary rankings, while the key challenges are secondary absenteeism, middle-grades literacy, and the high school's overall academic standing.
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