Summary:
Zip code 38862 is home to a single middle school, Plantersville Middle School, serving grades 5–8 with 241 students in the Lee County School District, which ranks 66th out of 134 districts in Mississippi. The school serves an almost entirely low-income population, with 99.59% of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch, and faces significant challenges with chronic absenteeism at 33.2% (2023–2024), well above the district rate of 26.2% and the state rate of 23.9%.
Plantersville Middle School's statewide ranking has dropped sharply, falling from the 14th percentile in 2023–2024 to the 7th percentile in 2025–2026. Average test proficiency across all subjects and grades was 27.5% in 2025–2026, compared to 49.7% for the district and 52.2% for the state—a gap of roughly 23 to 25 points. The school's strongest subject is science, with 5th grade science proficiency reaching 56.6% and 8th grade science at 35.5%. Math is the weakest area, especially 5th grade math, where just 3.8% of students were proficient in 2025–2026, down from 10.5% the prior year. ELA proficiency remains low across all grades, ranging from 18.9% in 7th grade to 27.3% in 6th grade.
Year-to-year trends are mixed. On the positive side, 8th grade math improved from 26.4% to 37.6%, 8th grade science rose from 23.1% to 35.5%, and 8th grade ELA jumped from 13.2% to 25.0%. On the other hand, 7th grade math fell from 37.0% to 29.3%, and 7th grade ELA slipped from 22.7% to 18.9%. Despite a favorable 10:1 student-teacher ratio, the school performs far below its district average, suggesting that poverty and chronic absenteeism are powerful barriers to academic success. Families considering this school should be aware of its low overall performance, while also noting the relative strengths in 8th grade and science instruction that could serve as building blocks for improvement.
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