Summary:
Zip code 38680 is served by a single elementary school, Walls Elementary School, which is part of the DeSoto County School District and educates 722 students in grades PK through 5. With no other elementary schools in the area for comparison, the school's performance is best understood against district and state benchmarks. Walls Elementary serves a predominantly low-income community, with nearly 69% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch, and maintains a student-teacher ratio of 15:1.
The school has faced significant academic challenges, ranking in the bottom quartile of Mississippi elementary schools for three consecutive years, though it improved from the 20th percentile in 2024-2025 to the 25th percentile in 2025-2026. Its clearest strength is 5th grade science, where 64.3% of students were proficient in 2025-2026, a 12.7-point improvement over the prior year that nearly matches the state average. By contrast, math proficiency is critically low, especially in 3rd grade, where only 26.1% of students were proficient—a gap of 22.7 points behind the state. Fourth grade appears to be the most problematic year, with the largest ELA gap (-23 points) and the steepest year-over-year declines in both ELA and math.
Parents should be aware that chronic absenteeism affects 26.2% of students, slightly above the state average of 23.9%, and given the link between attendance and achievement, this is a meaningful concern. Performance is also inconsistent across grade levels, suggesting uneven instructional quality or cohort-specific differences. On a positive note, the 5th grade cohort showed strong momentum with substantial gains in math and science, and 3rd grade reading improved dramatically. With targeted support in early numeracy, 4th grade instruction, and attendance initiatives, Walls Elementary has a realistic path toward climbing out of the bottom quartile.
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