Summary:
ZIP code 38762 in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, is served by a single elementary school, I. T. Montgomery Elementary School, which enrolls 185 students in grades PK through 6 and is part of the North Bolivar Consolidated school district. This small, high-poverty school stands out for several notable strengths. State rankings have improved significantly, moving from the 26th percentile with a 1-star rating in 2023-24 to the 41st percentile with a 2-star rating in 2025-26 — progress worth celebrating. Chronic absenteeism is just 16.1%, well below both the district's 18.7% and the state's 23.9%, which is especially impressive given that over 99% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. With a 12.7 student-teacher ratio, students receive relatively close attention.
The school's clearest academic strengths are in upper-grade mathematics and 5th-grade science. In 2025-26, 60% of 5th graders and 56.3% of 6th graders scored proficient or above in math, beating both district and state averages. This builds on the prior year, when 6th-grade math reached 57.7% proficiency, about five points above the state. Science performance is even more striking: 90% of 5th graders were proficient in science in 2025-26, crushing the state average of 71.5%. In the previous year, the school also led the district in science at 72.2%.
The main area of concern is English Language Arts. The school trails state proficiency averages in every grade and year. In 2024-25, only 30.4% of 4th graders were proficient in ELA, compared to 52.1% statewide, a gap of nearly 22 points. The most recent 3rd-grade ELA results also lag the state by about 17 points. Because enrollment is small, cohort-to-cohort swings can be large, so year-to-year changes should be interpreted with some caution. Overall, I. T. Montgomery Elementary is a bright spot within North Bolivar Consolidated, with excellent math and science outcomes, strong attendance, and an improving trajectory — though raising ELA achievement remains the key challenge ahead.
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