Kirksey Middle School

Kirksey Middle School, located on Highland Drive in Jackson, MS, serves 389 students in grades 6–8 within the Jackson Public Schools district. The school faces substantial challenges: it is currently ranked 254th out of 260 Mississippi middle schools, placing it in the bottom 2% of the state with a 0-star rating. Every student is eligible for free/reduced lunch, and chronic absenteeism affects roughly one in three students (32.6% in 2023–2024)—well above the state average of 23.9%, though better than nearby Blackburn Middle School (57.6%) and Reimagine Prep (41.9%).

Academic proficiency at Kirksey trails both state and, in most subjects, district averages by wide margins. On the 2025–2026 MAAP assessments, ELA proficiency ranged from 11.7% to 21.7% across grades 6–8, compared to state averages of 37–48%; math proficiency was just 9.3% to 23.7%, versus state averages of 51–58%. The one bright spot is Algebra I: Kirksey's 8th graders posted an 85.7% proficiency rate, far above the state average of 66% and the district's 42.7%. This suggests a select group of students is thriving on an accelerated math track, even as the majority of 8th graders—only 9.3% of whom are proficient in grade-level math—continue to struggle.

The contrast with nearby schools is striking. Just miles away, Madison Middle School ranks #1 in Mississippi with math proficiency of 84–90%, and Old Town Middle School ranks 81st. Even within the same district, Northwest Middle School and Bailey APAC Middle School—both serving similarly high-poverty student bodies—rank in the top 15% of the state. Kirksey's ranking has fallen from 179th in 2018–2019 to its current position near the very bottom. The school does offer a favorable student-teacher ratio of 12.7:1, comparable to high performers like Madison Middle, suggesting the core challenges lie in attendance, poverty, and student mobility rather than class size. For parents, Kirksey is clearly in need of urgent support, particularly in math, literacy, and attendance.