Leake Central Elementary School

Leake Central Elementary School in Carthage, MS, serves roughly 850 students in grades PK–5 and is part of the Leake County School District, which currently holds a 1-star rating. The school has ranked in the bottom quarter of Mississippi elementary schools for the past decade, and 100% of its students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a very high level of economic need.

The most pressing challenges at Leake Central are in early-grade reading and math. In the most recent testing year, just 30.3% of 3rd graders and 24.8% of 4th graders were proficient in reading, compared to 48.5% and 52.4% statewide. In 4th grade math, only 16.3% of students were proficient, versus 51.5% across Mississippi. The school also has a student–teacher ratio of 15.8, notably higher than nearby schools like Leake County Elementary School (12.1), Camden Elementary (6.7), Luther Branson Elementary (8.0), Standing Pine Elementary School (7.6), and Red Water Elementary School (5.8), meaning larger class sizes and less individualized attention. The gap with nearby Madison County Schools is striking: Luther Branson and Camden serve similarly high-poverty families but achieve far better results — Luther Branson's 4th grade math proficiency was 65.4% compared to Leake Central's 16.3%.

There are encouraging signs. Leake Central's chronic absenteeism rate was just 14.8% in 2023–2024, far better than the district (23.8%) and state (23.9%) averages — a real accomplishment for a high-poverty school. The school also shows relative strength in 5th grade science, with 59.0% proficiency, essentially matching its district and much closer to the state's 71.5%. While test scores fluctuate significantly from year to year, these bright spots suggest that with stronger district support and additional instructional staff, Leake Central has genuine potential to improve.