Summary:
The Greenwood-Leflore Consolidated School District in Mississippi has two middle schools—Greenwood Middle School, serving grades 7–8 with 278 students, and Amanda Elzy Junior High School, serving grades 6–8 with 199 students—both located in an area where 100% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Both schools rank in the bottom 10% of Mississippi middle schools, but Greenwood Middle is clearly the stronger academic performer, beating Amanda Elzy on every shared subject and grade level. For example, in 7th grade math, Greenwood posts 25.6% proficiency versus Amanda Elzy’s 9.3%, and in 8th grade science, Greenwood reaches 31.2% versus Amanda Elzy’s 22.5%.
Greenwood Middle also holds a better state ranking, placing in the 7th percentile (243 out of 260) for 2024–25, while Amanda Elzy fell to the 2nd percentile (261 out of 266). Yet the two schools are very different in other ways. Greenwood Middle has a chronic absenteeism rate of 35.2%, nearly 2.5 times Amanda Elzy’s 14.4% and well above the district and state averages. Amanda Elzy actually has a lower student-teacher ratio (10.7 versus 14.6) and better attendance, but those advantages are not producing higher test scores. This suggests that class size and attendance alone do not explain the academic gap between the two schools.
Recent data show some encouraging signs at Greenwood Middle, where 7th grade math proficiency rose to 35.8% and 8th grade science to 39.0% in 2025–26, though both remain far below state averages. Amanda Elzy’s steep decline from the 9th percentile in 2022–23 to the 2nd percentile in 2024–25, along with extremely low 6th grade math scores, points to serious foundational skill gaps entering middle school. Overall, parents should expect both schools to face major challenges tied to extreme poverty, with Greenwood needing attendance support and Amanda Elzy needing intensive academic intervention.
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