Summary:
Franklin County School District, located in Meadville, MS, contains just one elementary school, Franklin Lower Elementary, which serves grades PK–3 and enrolls 379 students in a rural, high-poverty community where nearly 78% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
As the only elementary school in the district, Franklin Lower Elementary stands out for its strong early-grade performance and notably low chronic absenteeism. The school earned 2 out of 5 stars and ranked 228th out of 377 Mississippi elementary schools, placing it in the 40th percentile statewide. While its overall rank is mid-tier, the school outperforms the state average in 3rd grade ELA (+3.0 points) and 3rd and 4th grade math (+3.5 and +4.4 points, respectively). Chronic absenteeism is a bright spot: at 16.1%, it is well below the district rate of 21.4% and the state rate of 23.9%. Last year, its 3rd graders posted impressive results—63% proficiency in ELA and 71.4% in math, both far above state averages—though this year’s 3rd grade scores are lower, suggesting possible cohort-to-cohort variability.
For parents, the most important takeaway is that Franklin Lower Elementary appears to give its youngest students a solid academic start, especially in math and reading, despite high poverty levels. However, test data in the dataset also include scores for 4th through 6th grades, which show large declines (e.g., 6th grade math at 26.5% vs. 52.7% statewide). Since the school is listed as PK–3 and the school and district scores are identical, these upper-grade results likely reflect district-level data rather than this school’s actual performance. Parents should interpret those upper-grade numbers cautiously and focus on the school’s verified strengths: strong attendance, small student-teacher ratio of 15.1, and early-grade success that provides a promising foundation.
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