Plantersville Middle School

Plantersville Middle School is a small public school in Plantersville, MS, serving 241 students in grades 5–8 as part of Lee County Schools. Despite being part of an average-performing district, the school itself has ranked in the bottom 20 percent of Mississippi middle schools for over a decade. In 2025–2026, Plantersville fell to 242nd out of 260 schools statewide, placing it in the 7th percentile with a 0-star rating. The previous four years saw rankings between the 14th and 19th percentiles, all earning 1 star.

The most concerning academic results are in math. Only 3.8% of 5th graders scored proficient in math, compared to 40.7% across the Lee County district and 49.6% statewide—a staggering 46-point gap. Math proficiency rises somewhat by grade level, reaching 37.6% for 8th graders, but still trails the state average of 51.4%. English Language Arts is also weak across all grades, with proficiency ranging from 18.9% to 27.3%, all well below state averages. Science is the relative bright spot, with 56.6% of 5th graders proficient, though still below the 71.5% statewide figure. Nearby schools dramatically outperform Plantersville: Mooreville Middle School, just 6.7 miles away in the same district, posts 7th-grade math proficiency of 83.9% compared to Plantersville's 29.3%, and Tupelo Middle School reaches 65.1%.

The challenges at Plantersville extend beyond test scores. Nearly all students—99.59%—qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, making it a universal-poverty school. Chronic absenteeism affects roughly one in three students, at 33.2%, well above the state average of 23.9%. The school does maintain a favorable student-teacher ratio of 10.0, lower than most nearby schools, yet this has not translated into competitive achievement. Even Shannon Middle School, which has similarly high poverty and absenteeism, outperforms Plantersville in most subjects. The path forward will require addressing early math instruction, attendance, and the concentrated effects of poverty to move out of the bottom tier.