Sykes Elementary School

Sykes Elementary School is a public elementary school serving grades PK-5 in the Jackson Public School District in Jackson, Mississippi. With a student population of 325, the school has a predominantly African American student body (76% in 2022-2023) and has consistently ranked in the bottom quarter of Mississippi elementary schools in recent years, earning a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Sykes Elementary faces significant academic challenges, with students consistently underperforming the Jackson Public School District and the state of Mississippi in standardized test scores across all grade levels and subjects. For example, in 2023-2024, only 28.1% of 3rd graders were proficient or better in English Language Arts, compared to 36.5% for the district and 57.7% for the state. Additionally, the school has a 100% free and reduced lunch rate, indicating that the student population comes from low-income households, a key differentiating factor compared to nearby schools.

Despite spending $9,922 per student, which is higher than the spending at most nearby schools, such as Clausell Elementary School, Pecan Park Elementary School, and Isable Elementary School, Sykes Elementary has not shown significant improvement in academic performance over time. This suggests that the challenges facing the school may be more complex than just resource allocation and class size, which is relatively low at Sykes Elementary compared to the nearby schools.