Southaven Intermediate School

Southaven Intermediate School is a public elementary school serving grades 3-5 in the Desoto County School District in Mississippi, with 997 students enrolled. While the school has been rated 2 out of 5 stars by SchoolDigger for the past several years, placing it in the middle of Mississippi elementary schools, it faces several key challenges that impact its academic performance.

One of the most significant issues is the school's consistently high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 21.2% to 28.5% over the past few years, which is significantly higher than the state average of around 15-20%. Additionally, Southaven Intermediate School's test scores on the MAAP (Mississippi Academic Assessment Program) exams lag behind both the Desoto County School District and the state of Mississippi averages. For example, in 2024-2025 projected scores, Southaven Intermediate School had 37.1% proficiency in 3rd grade ELA, compared to 50.7% for the district and 49.4% for the state. The school also has extremely high rates of free and reduced-price lunch recipients, ranging from 68.51% to 99.7% over the past few years, indicating a high-poverty student population.

When comparing Southaven Intermediate to other nearby schools in the Desoto County district, some interesting patterns emerge. Olive Branch Intermediate and Horn Lake Intermediate have similar low performance to Southaven Intermediate, with test scores and rankings lagging the district and state. In contrast, Pleasant Hill Elementary and Desoto Central Elementary have significantly higher test scores and rankings, performing well above the district and state averages. This suggests that there may be pockets of high and low performance within the Desoto County district, with Southaven Intermediate being part of the lower-performing group.