Elementary Schools in Choctaw County Schools

In Choctaw County Schools, a rural Mississippi district, three elementary schools—Ackerman Elementary, Weir Elementary School, and French Camp Elementary—serve grades PK/K through 6, and they offer a striking mix of results. The district overall earns a 4-star rating, but that average hides a wide gap: Ackerman and French Camp are both 5-star schools ranked in the top 9% of Mississippi elementary schools, while Weir is a 2-star school sitting in the 37th percentile. Ackerman is the largest (462 students) and consistently strong, ranking 5th in the state in 2024-25 with standout ELA scores like 91% proficient in 3rd grade. French Camp is a small but impressive math powerhouse, with 4th grade math proficiency at 95% and an average math score nearly 20 points above the state. Weir, despite smaller class sizes, lags badly in most subjects, with 4th grade ELA at just 30% proficiency versus 52% statewide.

These schools show that poverty and class size are not the whole story. All three serve nearly identical, overwhelmingly low-income populations—Ackerman at 99.35% free/reduced lunch, Weir at 100%, and French Camp at 97.46%—yet two of them are top performers. Weir actually has the best student-teacher ratio (8.5 students per teacher) but the lowest scores, while Ackerman has the largest ratio (13.4) and excels. Chronic absenteeism is low across the board, well below the state rate of 23.9%, so attendance doesn’t explain Weir’s struggles either. Instead, Ackerman and French Camp prove that school-level practices can overcome high poverty, making Weir’s steady decline—from the 68th percentile in 2023-24 to the 37th in 2025-26—a clear call for targeted help in reading and math.

The two strong schools have very different strengths, which points to a great opportunity for collaboration: Ackerman shines in ELA (82.2% average proficiency) while French Camp dominates math (85.9% average), a 16-point gap in math and 10-point gap in reading within the same district. Meanwhile, Weir’s small numbers mean a handful of students can swing results dramatically—its 3rd grade ELA jumped from 25% to 50% in one year—so parents should view year-to-year changes with caution. Overall, Choctaw County is home to two excellent elementary options and one that needs significant support.