Summary:
The Brookhaven School District serves two middle-level schools — Lipsey Middle School (grades 5–6, 341 students) and Alexander Junior High (grades 7–8, 340 students) — within a district ranked 70th out of 134 Mississippi districts with a 2-star rating. Both schools serve a majority low-income student population, with free/reduced lunch rates of 77.4% at Lipsey and 82.7% at Alexander, and both maintain favorable student-teacher ratios of 12.4 and 12.0, respectively.
The most striking finding is a significant math divide at Lipsey Middle School. Its 5th grade math proficiency collapsed from 45.7% to 23.1% in one year, creating a 31-point gap between 5th grade (23.1%) and 6th grade (54.4%, above the state average) in the same school year. A similar two-tier story emerges at Alexander Junior High, where Algebra I students are exceptionally strong at 92.9% proficiency (compared to the state's 66%), while general 8th grade math sits at just 33.1%. ELA is a district-wide weakness, with the largest gap at Alexander's 8th grade (25.3% vs. 40.9% statewide). Alexander's overall state ranking has also slipped from the 55th percentile in 2023–2024 to the 26th percentile in 2025–2026.
Despite these challenges, there are encouraging signs. Alexander Junior High posts a lower chronic absenteeism rate (18.4%) than Lipsey Middle School (22.6%) and the state average (23.9%), a positive outcome even though Alexander serves a higher-poverty population. Lipsey's 6th grade math and 5th grade science (64.4%) are also relative bright spots. The district should focus immediate attention on Lipsey's 5th grade math program and Alexander's English Language Arts instruction, where only about one in four 7th and 8th graders is proficient.
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