Cleveland Central Middle School

Cleveland Central Middle School is a public middle school serving grades 7-8 in Cleveland, Mississippi, with 408 students. It is part of the Cleveland School District, which is ranked 86 out of 130 districts in the state and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Cleveland Central Middle School has consistently been ranked in the bottom half of middle schools in Mississippi, receiving a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger for most of the recent school years. The school's academic performance, as measured by the percentage of students proficient or better on the MAAP tests, is consistently below the state averages across all subjects and grade levels. For example, in 2024-2025, the school's 7th grade English Language Arts proficiency rate was 21.7%, compared to the state average of 37.3%. Additionally, the school has had high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 22.7% to 26.8% over the past few years, which is significantly higher than the state average.

Interestingly, the two nearby schools, Drew Hunter Middle School and Ruleville Middle School, which are also part of the Sunflower City Cons School District, generally perform better than Cleveland Central Middle School on academic measures, with higher proficiency rates in most subjects and grade levels. This suggests that the challenges faced by Cleveland Central Middle School may be unique and require targeted interventions to address the high chronic absenteeism rates and support the economically disadvantaged student population.