Summary:
Zip code 38965 (Water Valley, MS) is served by two public schools in the Water Valley School District — Davidson Elementary School (PK–6) and Water Valley High School (7–12) — with no standalone middle school, and the district ranks in the 43rd percentile statewide with a 2-star rating. Both schools serve predominantly economically disadvantaged student bodies, with free/reduced lunch rates near or above 70%.
Water Valley High School is the stronger overall school, ranking in the 47th percentile statewide, up from the 42nd percentile the prior year. It posts a 92.3% graduation rate (above the state average), strong Algebra I proficiency at 77.4%, and notable improvements in 8th-grade science and Biology. By comparison, Davidson Elementary School ranks in the 31st percentile but has clear bright spots: 6th-grade math (63.2%) and ELA (52.6%) exceed state averages, and chronic absenteeism is just 10.5% — less than half the state rate. The high school offers a more favorable student-to-teacher ratio (10.7 vs. 16.2), while its chronic absenteeism (19.7%) is nearly double the elementary school’s rate.
English language arts is the district’s most consistent weakness. No ELA test at either school meets the state average except Davidson’s 6th grade, and the 7th-grade ELA proficiency at Water Valley High is just 18.0% — the lowest score in either school — pointing to a fragile transition into the 7–12 campus. Upper-elementary math is also mixed, with Davidson’s 4th-grade math at 25.3% versus a 51.5% state average, while high school math rebounded strongly by Algebra I. Scores swing sharply year to year across grades, making long-term trends hard to gauge. The biggest opportunity for the district is supporting the 7th-grade transition, especially in literacy, while stabilizing volatile test results.
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