Summary:
Located in zip code 39059, the area is served by exactly one elementary school, Crystal Springs Elementary, which enrolls 482 students in grades K-4 and is part of the Copiah County School District.
Because only one elementary school exists in this ZIP code, all comparisons are made against the district and state rather than nearby schools. Crystal Springs Elementary is a high-poverty school with 100% of students eligible for free/reduced lunch, yet it shows notable bright spots. In 2025-2026, 4th grade math proficiency reached 52.9%, slightly beating the state average of 51.5%, while 4th grade ELA jumped from 30.9% to 50.0% in a single year — a remarkable +19.1 point gain. The school also outperforms its district and state on chronic absenteeism, with 19.8% of students chronically absent compared to 22.7% for the district and 23.9% statewide. These strengths are especially meaningful given the school’s economic challenges, showing that disadvantage does not uniformly predict low performance.
However, significant concerns remain. In every tested subject and grade for 2025-2026, Crystal Springs Elementary trails its district, and it lags the state in all areas except 4th grade math. The most alarming trend is 3rd grade math, which collapsed from 39.4% to 20.5% proficiency — an 18.9-point drop and a 28.3-point gap below the state average. This extreme variability between grades and subjects suggests possible cohort effects or inconsistent instructional alignment. The school’s state ranking has improved from a 1-star rating (29th percentile) in 2024-2025 to a 2-star rating (39th percentile) in 2025-2026, yet the three-year pattern of 34th, 29th, and 39th percentiles indicates volatility rather than steady progress. Overall, families should view this as a school with genuine pockets of success, particularly in 4th grade, but with a serious math challenge in 3rd grade that demands attention.
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