Summary:
Zip code 39479 in Seminary, Mississippi, is served by three public schools—Seminary Elementary (K–4), Seminary Middle (5–8), and Seminary High (9–12)—all part of the Covington County School District, with a combined enrollment of roughly 1,167 students sharing a single K–12 campus.
Seminary Elementary is the clear standout, ranking 14th in Mississippi with a 5-star rating and outperforming both district and state averages in every subject—especially math, where 3rd graders hit 85.4% proficiency (36.6 points above the state). This is particularly impressive given that nearly 99% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. In contrast, Seminary Middle is more inconsistent, moving between 3 and 4 stars. It excels in 5th grade math (71.5%) but hits a steep "math cliff" in 8th grade, where proficiency falls to 37.7%—13.7 points below the state. English scores also slide steadily from 67.2% in 5th grade to 33.4% in 8th grade. Meanwhile, Seminary High has improved from a 2-star to a 3-star rating, with strong gains in Algebra I (58.9% to 78.0%) and Biology (55.8% to 69.0%), but it struggles with English II (44.9% proficiency, below the state) and a graduation rate of 85.8%—above the district but below the state's 89.2%.
The biggest challenge across the pipeline is chronic absenteeism, which skyrockets as students age: 19.3% in elementary, 36.0% in middle, and 47.4% in high school—nearly double the state average. This likely contributes to the high school's attendance-related academic gaps. Still, the shared campus offers a unique opportunity for aligned curriculum and targeted interventions. With strong early foundations, the key priorities for improvement are clearly 8th-grade math support, middle-school literacy, and high-school attendance initiatives that could help Seminary become a consistently high-performing K–12 system.
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