Summary:
Smith County School District contains just one elementary school, Raleigh Elementary School, which serves pre-kindergarten through 6th grade in Raleigh, Mississippi, with 649 students and about 69 percent of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch. Because this is the district's only elementary school, its performance is best understood by comparing it to state benchmarks and tracking year-over-year trends.
The school has clear strengths in upper-grade math and science. In 2025–2026, 67 percent of 6th graders scored proficient in mathematics, which is 13 points above the district average and 14 points above the state average, and an 11-point jump from the prior year. Fifth grade science is also a bright spot, with 72.1 percent proficiency that has beaten both district and state averages for two straight years. Raleigh Elementary also excels in attendance, posting a chronic absenteeism rate of just 11.3 percent—far better than the district's 14.7 percent and less than half of the state's 23.9 percent. Additionally, the school outperforms its district in 4th, 5th, and 6th grade math and ELA.
The biggest concern is English Language Arts. Most ELA scores trail state averages, and the 3rd grade reading proficiency rate fell sharply from 53.5 percent in 2024–2025 to 35.4 percent in 2025–2026, a drop of 18 points. This literacy slide appears to be driving the school's declining state ranking, which fell from the 68th percentile in 2023–2024 to the 45th percentile in 2025–2026, with its star rating dropping from 3 stars to 2 stars. Overall, Raleigh Elementary School is a high-attendance school with impressive math and science results, but early literacy needs urgent attention to reverse the downward ranking trend.
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