Summary:
ZIP code 38773 contains one high school, Shaw High School, which serves grades 7 through 12 in the small Mississippi Delta community of Shaw. This single-campus school enrolls about 200 students and is part of the West Bolivar Consolidated School District. Nearly all students (98.5%) qualify for free/reduced lunch, and the school has a favorable student-teacher ratio of 11.4, yet academic outcomes remain far below state averages.
Academically, Shaw High School struggles in most subjects. In 2025–2026, 7th-grade ELA proficiency was just 6.9% (state: 36.7%), and 8th-grade math proficiency was 11.5% (state: 51.4%). Proficiency fell sharply from the prior year in nearly every area, including Algebra I dropping from 72.2% to 42.5%. The one bright spot was 8th-grade science, which improved from 25.0% to 34.6%, though it still trails the state. English II is Shaw’s closest subject to the state average, with 41.7% proficient versus 49.3% statewide, and it outperformed the district by a wide margin. The school’s state ranking has declined from the 35th percentile (2 stars) in 2024–2025 to the 20th percentile (1 star) in 2025–2026.
Contextual factors are challenging. Chronic absenteeism is 27.5%, higher than the state’s 23.9%, and the district graduation rate is just 77.3% compared to the state’s 89.2%. The last reported school-level graduation rate (2019–2020) was 80.0%. A low student-teacher ratio has not translated into high achievement, pointing to deeper systemic issues such as poverty and resource constraints. While Shaw has shown occasional strong results in Algebra I and improving science scores, the overall downward trend in state ranking and proficiency makes this a school in need of sustained support around math instruction, attendance, and student retention.
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