Summary:
The West Bolivar Consolidated School District in the Mississippi Delta contains two high schools — West Bolivar High School in Rosedale and Shaw High School in Shaw — both serving grades 7 through 12 and enrolling a combined 427 students in a district ranked 123rd out of 134 in Mississippi.
Shaw High School is the stronger overall performer between the two. It holds a higher state ranking (179th out of 224 in 2025–2026 versus 205th for West Bolivar), has a much lower chronic absenteeism rate (27.5% versus 50.8%), and outperforms West Bolivar on key high school End-of-Course exams. In 2024–2025, Shaw posted an impressive 72.2% proficiency in Algebra I — above the state average — while West Bolivar managed just 25.6%. Shaw also led in English II and Biology. West Bolivar, however, is stronger in middle-grade subjects, beating Shaw in every 7th and 8th grade test in 2025–2026, including a large 26.8% versus 7.7% gap in 8th grade ELA. West Bolivar also posted a solid 56.4% in U.S. History, but its 70.3% graduation rate and severe chronic absenteeism undermine its overall performance.
Both schools serve nearly all economically disadvantaged students (about 98.5% eligible for free/reduced lunch) and both have favorable student-to-teacher ratios of roughly 10 to 11 students per teacher. Despite these small classes, proficiency rates remain far below state averages, indicating that class size alone is not the deciding factor. Attendance appears to be the defining challenge — especially at West Bolivar, where more than half of students are chronically absent. Shaw's relative success, including its standout Algebra I results, shows that high-poverty schools in this district can achieve competitive outcomes, and improving attendance would likely be the single most impactful change for this district.
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