Summary:
ZIP code 39439 is home to exactly one elementary school, William J. Berry Elementary School in Heidelberg, MS, serving grades PK–6 with 389 students in the East Jasper School District. The school serves a high-poverty population, with 100% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch, yet it stands out for strong attendance: its chronic absenteeism rate is just 10.2%, less than half the state average of 23.9%.
Academically, William J. Berry is on a clear upward trend, improving its state ranking from the 25th percentile with 1 star in 2023-2024 to the 41st percentile with 2 stars in 2025-2026. The school posts solid results in several areas, including 3rd grade ELA (53.6% proficient vs. the state's 48.5%) and 5th grade math (53.8% vs. 49.6%). The most dramatic gain came in 5th grade math, which surged from 28.3% proficiency in 2024-2025 to 53.8% in 2025-2026, a remarkable 25.5-point jump that moved the school from well below to above the state average.
Still, the school trails the state in most tested subjects, and the biggest concern is 6th grade ELA, where only 29.6% of students are proficient versus the state's 48% — a gap of 18.4 points, and a sharp drop from 40.5% the prior year. Science is a relative strength at 59.7% proficiency but remains well below the state's 71.5%. Because William J. Berry is the only school in the district, school and district proficiency figures are identical, limiting the value of district-level comparisons. Parents should also keep in mind that with roughly 389 students spread across seven grades, each cohort is small, so large year-over-year swings may reflect class-to-class variability as much as real programmatic changes.
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