Kemper County Middle School

Kemper County Middle School is a public middle school located in De Kalb, Mississippi, serving grades 6-8 with a total enrollment of 162 students. The school is part of the Kemper County School District. Over the past several years, Kemper County Middle School has consistently ranked in the bottom half of Mississippi middle schools, with a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger for most years.

Kemper County Middle School faces several challenges, including high chronic absenteeism rates ranging from 22.3% to 26.6% over the past few years, significantly higher than the state average. The school's test scores in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science are consistently lower than the state averages. For example, in 2024-2025, only 30.5% of 6th graders, 23.6% of 7th graders, and 9.7% of 8th graders were proficient or better in ELA, compared to the state averages of 46.7%, 37.3%, and 41.7%, respectively. Additionally, Kemper County Middle School has a 100% free and reduced lunch rate, indicating a high-poverty student population.

When comparing Kemper County Middle School to the nearby West Lauderdale Middle School, which is ranked 18th out of 266 Mississippi middle schools, the performance gap is significant. West Lauderdale Middle School consistently outperforms Kemper County Middle School across all subject areas and grade levels. However, Kemper County Middle School's low student-teacher ratio, ranging from 8.3 to 9.5 over the past few years, could be an asset in providing more individualized attention and targeted interventions to address the school's challenges.