Byhalia Middle School

Byhalia Middle School is a middle school in Byhalia, Mississippi, serving 438 students in grades 5–8 as part of the Marshall County School District. The school recently improved its state ranking from the 21st percentile to the 32nd percentile, placing it 178th out of 260 Mississippi middle schools — a meaningful jump after a difficult previous year.

Academically, Byhalia posts an average proficiency of 37.5% across MAAP subjects, compared to 39.1% for its district and 52.2% statewide. The school's biggest strengths are in upper-grade math and science: 8th grade science proficiency is 57%, essentially matching the state average, and both 7th and 8th grade math scores (38% and 39.8%) exceed the district average. The weakest areas are 5th and 6th grade math and 6th grade ELA, where proficiency lags well behind state averages. Interestingly, math proficiency rises steadily from 21.6% in 5th grade to 39.8% in 8th grade, suggesting the school gets better at supporting students as they progress. Despite having the highest poverty rate in the area — 99.3% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch — Byhalia's 6–8 grade composite proficiency (36.5%) is actually slightly higher than Southaven Middle School (34.7%), a wealthier school in the DeSoto County School District.

Byhalia serves grades 5–8, unlike most nearby middle schools that only serve grades 6–8, so its 5th grade results are part of its overall profile. Chronic absenteeism has been improving, dropping from 31.1% in 2021–2022 to 26.2% in 2023–2024, though it remains above the state average. The school is surrounded by higher-performing schools in wealthier DeSoto County, but it outperforms at least one of them despite serving a far more economically disadvantaged population. The main opportunities for growth are early middle school math and 6th grade ELA, along with continued efforts to reduce absenteeism.