Middle Schools in Claiborne County Public Schools

Port Gibson Middle School is the only middle school in Claiborne County Public Schools, serving grades 6–8 with 223 students in a high-poverty, rural district where 100% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Because this is a single-school district, the school's test scores and absenteeism rates are identical to the district's overall numbers, so there are no other local middle schools to compare against.

Academically, the school shows a mixed picture with some serious concerns. In 2025–2026, math proficiency ranged from just 14.1% in 6th grade to 24.2% in 7th grade, far below state averages of roughly 51–58%. This represents a sharp collapse from the previous year, particularly for 7th and 8th graders, who both dropped about 16 percentage points. English Language Arts saw small but consistent gains across all three grades (now between 19.4% and 23.0%), yet still trails the state by 17 to 26 points. Science was the lone bright spot in 2024–2025, with 8th graders at 55.9% just above the state, but it fell to 43.3% in 2025–2026—now 14.5 points below the state average. The school's statewide ranking dropped sharply from the 23rd percentile in 2024–2025 to the 5th percentile in 2025–2026, and its star rating fell from 1 star to 0 stars.

For parents, the most important takeaway is that Port Gibson Middle School faces significant challenges, many tied to student attendance and poverty. Chronic absenteeism is 30.7%, meaning nearly one in three students misses enough school to be considered chronically absent—well above the state rate of 23.9%. The school does benefit from a low 10:1 student-teacher ratio, which could allow for more individualized attention, but this alone has not translated into strong test outcomes. Families should consider this school's academic struggles, especially in math and science, while acknowledging the small ELA improvements and the fact that the previous year's 7th-grade math cohort performed notably better—suggesting that student and cohort stability may play a major role in year-to-year results.