Newton Municipal School District

Newton Municipal School District is a small, high-poverty Mississippi district with three schools serving about 782 students in grades PK through 12. The district is rated 1 star and ranks in the bottom quarter of the state, but the schools each have distinct strengths and challenges that are useful for parents to know.

If you are looking for momentum, Newton High School is the clear standout. It jumped from the 23rd to the 48th percentile in state rankings, earned a 2-star rating, and posts a 95.7% graduation rate — well above the state average. Its Algebra I proficiency rate (77.3%) beats the state by more than 11 points, but English II remains a weak spot at just 37% proficient. By contrast, N H Pilate Middle School has the best attendance in the district, with only 6.5% chronic absenteeism compared to the state's 23.9%, but it saw a dramatic 30-point drop in 6th-grade math proficiency (from 42.9% to 12.9%) this year. Newton Elementary School is the largest school and has the lowest free/reduced lunch rate at 75.2%, yet it remains below state averages in nearly every subject, with the biggest gap in 5th-grade science — a 34.5-point deficit.

Attendance is a district bright spot, except at the high school, where chronic absenteeism is 23.7% — about the same as the state average and more than three times the middle school's rate. The middle school has the highest economic need (90.45% free/reduced lunch) but still posts the lowest absenteeism, showing that poverty alone does not drive attendance. Class sizes are small across the district, especially at the high school (9.8 students per teacher), but smaller classes have not translated into strong literacy scores. Overall, the district's future depends on whether the high school can sustain its gains, whether the middle school can reverse its sudden math decline, and whether the elementary school can address its science gap.