The top reported proficiency rate is 36% in English language arts. The lowest is 29% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Joel E Smilow Collegiate
Joel E. Smilow Collegiate operates as a single-school charter district in Mississippi, serving kindergarten through fourth grade. The district brief identifies it as part of the RePublic Schools network. Because it spans only the early elementary years, certain metrics that parents often look for simply do not apply here. There is no graduation rate, no high school course catalog, no college-readiness indicator. Those gaps reflect the grade band, not any weakness in the school.
The student body is almost entirely Black, with a very small number of students from other racial or ethnic backgrounds. The enrollment is moderate for a K-4 charter school, spread fairly evenly across the five grade levels. Economic disadvantage data was not reported, so families looking to understand the income profile of the community will need to ask the school directly. Special population figures, including students with individualized education programs and English learners, were also missing from the available data.
On state assessments, Mississippi's MAAP results are available for the two tested grades, third and fourth. In math, roughly three in ten third graders and a similar share of fourth graders reached proficiency. In English language arts, third-grade proficiency was somewhat higher than math, and fourth-grade ELA showed a stronger jump, with about four in ten students meeting the proficiency bar. These results sit below where most parents would want to see a school, and the math figures in particular are modest. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, asking what interventions and instructional approaches are in place, especially in the early grades where foundational skills take root. At the same time, the fourth-grade ELA result suggests some positive momentum in literacy as students move up through the school.
No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say from the provided information whether these proficiency levels represent improvement, decline, or stability. Participation rates for the assessments were also not reported. The state did not flag any assessment name changes or cut-score changes for the year, so the results appear to be on a consistent measurement basis.
The district brief notes that a search for recent parent-relevant changes turned up little of lasting impact. The available material describes current operations and performance data but does not surface specific shifts in programming, leadership, or policy that a family should weigh. This is a young, focused charter operation serving early elementary students, and the public record reflects that scope.
Several categories that would help a parent round out the picture were absent entirely. There was no locale brief, so nothing in the provided data describes the surrounding community, housing costs, commute patterns, or neighborhood character. No community or economic context was reported. No information on discipline practices, course access, staffing ratios, or attendance was available. No program offerings were listed, so families cannot tell from this data whether the school offers art, music, physical education, foreign language, or extracurricular activities. No comparison fact-set was provided, so the school cannot be positioned against neighboring districts or charter schools in its county.
What a parent can take from this is a charter school concentrated on the early elementary years, with assessment results that are mixed to modest, a nearly homogeneous student body, and a thin public record on programming and community context. Families considering Joel E. Smilow Collegiate would benefit from a direct conversation with school leadership about instructional strategy, support services, enrichment offerings, and plans for growth, since the available data leaves much of that picture unfinished.
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