Summary:
Lake, Mississippi is home to a single middle school, Lake Middle School, serving grades 5–8 with 237 students in the Scott County School District. The school has consistently ranked above the state median in recent years, earning a 4-star rating and placing in the top 26% of Mississippi middle schools (67th out of 260) in 2025–2026.
Lake Middle School stands out for exceptional math achievement: 100% of students scored proficient on the Algebra I End-of-Course exam in 2025–2026, compared to 66% statewide, and the 8th grade exceeded state averages in English language arts, math, and science by wide margins (e.g., math 74.2% vs. 51.4% statewide). Overall, the school outperformed the state in 6 of 11 subject/grade-level comparisons and beat its district in 9 of 11. Its state ranking improved from 89th (3 stars) in 2024–2025 to 67th (4 stars) in 2025–2026, with overall proficiency rising from roughly 56% to 59%.
The main area of concern is 5th grade, where English proficiency trails the state by 11 percentage points and math trails by 4 points. Chronic absenteeism stands at 25.8%, above the state rate of 23.9% but well below the district's 33.6%. With nearly 99% of students eligible for free/reduced lunch, the school's strong upper-grade performance is especially notable, though large year-to-year swings in 7th and 8th grade scores suggest cohort differences play a significant role. The biggest opportunity is understanding why 5th graders start behind and finding ways to replicate the 8th grade success across all grade levels.
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