Summary:
Zip code 39345, located in Newton, Mississippi, is served by a single middle school — N H Pilate Middle School — which enrolls 178 students in grades 6 through 8 and operates within the Newton Municipal School District.
Because N H Pilate is the only middle school in the area, it functions as the district’s sole middle school, making the most meaningful comparisons against state averages and its own year-over-year trends. The school stands out for excellent attendance: only 6.5% of students were chronically absent in 2023–2024, far better than the district’s 11.7% and the state’s 23.9%. However, the student body faces substantial economic need, with 90.45% eligible for free/reduced lunch. Academically, the school’s state ranking has slipped from the 34th percentile in 2023–2024 to the 15th percentile in 2025–2026, and its star rating dropped from 2 stars to 1. In 2025–2026, N H Pilate scored below the Mississippi state average in every grade and subject, with particularly large gaps in 6th grade math (12.9% proficient vs. 52.7% statewide) and 8th grade math (30.1% vs. 51.4%).
Test results have also shown dramatic year-over-year swings, reflecting the small cohort sizes of roughly 55–60 students per grade. For example, 6th grade math collapsed from 42.9% to 12.9% proficiency between 2024–2025 and 2025–2026, while 8th grade math fell from 44.5% to 30.1%. On the positive side, 6th grade ELA improved significantly from 26.5% to 38.8%, and 7th grade math rose to 42.0%, making it the school’s strongest subject in the latest testing year. Science performance, though down from 51.1% to 41.1% in 8th grade, had been close to the state average the previous year. With a favorable 13.5:1 student-teacher ratio, strong attendance, and a small, close-knit environment, N H Pilate has structural advantages to build on — but the declining test scores and ranking indicate that focused academic support, especially in math and science, is urgently needed.
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