Holly Springs Junior High School

Holly Springs Junior High School is a public middle school serving grades 7-8 in Holly Springs, Mississippi, with a total enrollment of 146 students. Based on the provided data, the school has consistently ranked in the bottom quarter of middle schools in Holly Springs School District, with a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger for most of the recent school years.

Holly Springs Junior High School faces several key challenges. The school has very high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 23.9% to 38.2% over the past few years, significantly higher than the state average. Additionally, the school's performance on the MAAP (Mississippi Academic Assessment Program) tests is consistently below the state and district averages across all subject areas and grade levels. For example, in 2024-2025, only 25% of 7th graders and 13.8% of 8th graders were proficient or better in English Language Arts, compared to the state averages of 37.3% and 41.7%, respectively. The school also has an extremely high percentage of students (over 98%) who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high level of economic disadvantage among the student population.

When comparing Holly Springs Junior High School to the nearby Holly Springs Intermediate School and Byhalia Middle School, some interesting patterns emerge. Holly Springs Intermediate School, which serves younger grades (4-6), generally outperforms Holly Springs Junior High School on test scores, suggesting that the academic challenges may intensify as students progress through the grades. Byhalia Middle School, while still underperforming the state averages, has higher test scores and a lower chronic absenteeism rate compared to Holly Springs Junior High School, despite being in a lower-ranked Marshall County School District.