Middle Schools in Lee County

Lee County, Mississippi, is home to four middle schools serving grades 6–8 (with one school also serving 5th grade), totaling 1,438 students across a district rated 3 stars and ranked 66th out of 134 districts statewide. Mooreville Middle School is the clear academic leader, ranking 54th out of 260 schools in the state with a 4-star rating and 79th percentile. It outperforms the state average in nearly every subject, including 83.9% proficiency in 7th grade math and 85.3% in 8th grade science, while also having the lowest poverty rate (48.65% free/reduced lunch) and a chronic absenteeism rate below the state average.

At the other end of the spectrum, Plantersville Middle School ranks 242nd out of 260 schools with a 0-star rating and a 7th percentile. Nearly all of its students (99.59%) receive free/reduced lunch, and its math scores are catastrophically low—5th grade math proficiency is just 3.8% compared to the state’s 49.6%. Shannon Middle School, the smallest school with 190 students, ranks 206th (21st percentile) and has the district’s highest chronic absenteeism rate at 37.6%, meaning more than one in three students is chronically absent. Both schools trail district and state averages in nearly every subject, with socioeconomic challenges and attendance clearly aligned with lower performance.

Sitting in the middle is Guntown Middle School, the largest school with 674 students. It maintains a solid 3-star rating (57th percentile) and has the best attendance record in the district at just 14.5% chronic absenteeism. However, Guntown has shown a downward trend, slipping from the 66th to the 57th percentile over three years, with year-over-year declines in nearly every subject. The stark contrast between Mooreville and Plantersville—188 ranking places apart—shows that this “average” district actually contains extremes of achievement, with poverty and attendance emerging as key differentiators, while smaller class sizes in the lower-performing schools do not automatically lead to better results.