Summary:
Laurel School District, located in Laurel, Mississippi, serves middle-level students through two schools: Laurel Middle School (grades 7–8, enrollment 388) and Laurel Upper Elementary (grades 5–6, enrollment 253). The district is ranked 92 out of 134 districts statewide, placing it in the 31st percentile, and both schools report 100% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a high-poverty community.
Of the two schools, Laurel Middle School is the larger and the only one with state-ranking history; its standing has dropped from the 17th percentile in 2023–2024 to the 3rd percentile in 2025–2026. Its strongest area is 7th grade math at 30.2% proficiency, the highest math result in the dataset. Laurel Upper Elementary posts better attendance (31.2% versus 41.0% chronic absenteeism) and a lower student-to-teacher ratio (13.8 versus 16.6). Its 5th grade science proficiency reached 44.4% in 2025–2026, the highest single subject score reported, and it improved in 6th grade ELA and 5th grade science from the prior year.
Chronic absenteeism remains a pressing issue, especially at Laurel Middle School where more than two in five students are chronically absent, nearly double the state average of 23.9%. Proficiency tends to decline with grade level: ELA proficiency falls from 26.9% in 5th grade to 16.4% in 8th grade, suggesting students fall further behind as they progress. Laurel Upper Elementary trails its own district averages, indicating it is one of the weaker schools in the district. While bright spots like 7th grade math and 5th grade science show that improvement is possible, both schools face substantial gaps versus state averages across nearly all subjects.
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