Summary:
Zip code 38769 in Rosedale, Mississippi contains 2 public schools, West Bolivar Elementary (K–6) and West Bolivar High School (7–12), both part of the West Bolivar Consolidated School District, which ranks in the bottom 8% of Mississippi districts.
Families considering this area should know that both schools face significant academic challenges, but the high school shows more pockets of strength. West Bolivar Elementary has been ranked among the lowest schools in the state, including dead last in 2023–2024. Math proficiency is extremely low — only 2.9% of 3rd graders and 2.9% of 5th graders were proficient in recent years, compared to roughly 51% statewide. The elementary school also reports 100% free/reduced lunch. By contrast, West Bolivar High School performs relatively well in Algebra I (51.5% proficient), U.S. History (56.4%), and once in Biology (51.1%), though English II proficiency is just 17.2%. The high school’s chronic absenteeism rate of 50.8% is a crisis — more than double the state average of 23.9% and double the elementary school’s rate of 24.8%. Its graduation rate of 70.3% trails the state average of 89.2% by nearly 19 points.
Both schools serve almost entirely low-income students (98.68% free/reduced lunch at the high school) and have favorable student-teacher ratios (12.9 to 1 at the elementary, 10.6 to 1 at the high school), yet outcomes remain low — suggesting poverty and absenteeism outweigh smaller class sizes. There are some encouraging year-over-year gains, including Algebra I jumping from 25.6% to 51.5% and 5th grade math improving from 2.9% to 18.5%, but declines in Biology and 3rd grade math highlight fragile progress. Overall, zip 38769 schools reflect a systemic need for intervention around attendance, early literacy, and math instruction, with the high school offering a few bright spots amid otherwise struggling performance.
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