North Jones Elementary School

North Jones Elementary School is a PK–6 school in Laurel, Mississippi, serving 854 students as part of the Jones County School District. Once a solid mid-tier school, North Jones has declined steadily for a decade and now ranks 291st out of 377 Mississippi elementary schools — the 23rd percentile — making it the lowest-performing elementary school in a district whose other schools all rank in the 55th–70th percentile.

Academically, North Jones trails its district peers by wide margins. In 2025–26, only 38.5% of students scored proficient in English Language Arts and 35.9% in math, compared with the district average of roughly 52% and 56%. Every other elementary school in the district performs significantly better: South Jones Elementary School posts 54.3% ELA and 60.3% math proficiency, while Glade Elementary reaches 51.1% and 63.2%. The most concerning trend is in the early grades — just 24.4% of North Jones 3rd graders are proficient in math, and 31.5% in reading. This suggests students are falling behind early and struggling to catch up.

Chronic absenteeism is likely a major factor. At 22.6%, North Jones has the highest rate in the district — roughly one in four students misses enough school to be considered chronically absent, up from 9.5% before the pandemic. The school also serves a high-poverty population, with 82.44% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. However, poverty alone doesn't explain the results: Laurel Magnet School Of The Arts serves 100% low-income students yet ranks in the 93rd percentile with only 8% chronic absenteeism. This suggests that improving attendance and providing targeted early-grade reading and math interventions could help North Jones reverse its trajectory.