Quitman Junior High School

Quitman Junior High School is a public middle school in Quitman, Mississippi, serving 288 students in grades 6 through 8 as part of the Quitman School District. The school has received a 1-star rating and currently ranks in the bottom fifth of Mississippi middle schools, falling from the 30th percentile in 2022–2023 to the 14th percentile in 2025–2026, while serving a student population where more than 80% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Academically, Quitman Junior High School lags well behind state averages and nearby schools in nearly every subject. In 8th grade math, only 13.8% of students are proficient, compared to 51.4% statewide, 42.9% at Heidelberg Junior High School, and 77.8% at Enterprise Middle School — a gap of nearly 64 percentage points. Reading scores tell a similar story, with 8th grade ELA proficiency at 21.8% versus 40.9% statewide. Promisingly, 8th grade science is a relative bright spot at 51.2% proficiency, close to the state average of 57.8%, and 6th grade reading shows stronger performance than later grades.

Two other concerns stand out. Chronic absenteeism at Quitman Junior High reached 31.2% in 2023–2024 — nearly triple the rate at nearby Heidelberg (12.4%) and Enterprise (13.1%), and well above the state average of 23.9%. The student-to-teacher ratio also spiked dramatically from 12.7 in 2023–2024 to 19.8 in 2024–2025, while comparable schools maintain ratios around 10–11. Notably, Heidelberg serves an equally high-poverty student population yet achieves far better math outcomes and much lower absenteeism. This suggests that addressing attendance, class sizes, and math instruction could meaningfully improve outcomes at Quitman Junior High School.