Summary:
The East Tallahatchie School District is home to a single middle school, Charleston Middle School, which serves grades 5–8 in Charleston, Mississippi, with only 208 students enrolled.
Because there is only one middle school in this district, all district-level results come directly from this school. Charleston Middle serves an almost entirely economically disadvantaged population, with 98.56% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Chronic absenteeism is also a major concern: 43.2% of students were chronically absent in the latest reporting year, nearly double the state rate of 23.9%. Academically, the school consistently trails state averages. In 2025–2026, the average proficiency rate was 26.8% compared to 52.2% statewide. The largest gaps were in 5th grade ELA (14.3% vs. 55.8%), 5th grade science (33.3% vs. 71.5%), and 8th grade ELA (9.8% vs. 40.9%). That said, there are relative bright spots: 6th grade students performed closest to state averages in both ELA and math, and 8th grade math was a less weak subject at 33.4% proficiency.
Year-to-year scores are quite volatile, suggesting that small class sizes and changing student cohorts have a big impact. For example, 6th grade math jumped from 13.5% to 33.3% in just one year, while 5th grade ELA fell from 33.3% to 14.3%. Science was a relative strength in 2024–2025 (5th grade at 51.9% and 8th grade at 41.5%), but both dropped sharply in 2025–2026. The school’s state rank has improved slightly from 246th out of 264 (7th percentile) to 229th out of 260 (12th percentile), but it remains in the bottom tier of Mississippi middle schools. For parents, the key takeaway is that this school faces serious challenges tied to poverty and attendance, and while some grades show promise, performance is inconsistent across subjects and years.
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