The top reported proficiency rate is 55% in Science. The lowest is 42% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Winona Elementary School
Winona Elementary School sits on South Applegate Street in Winona, a small county-seat city in Montgomery County, Mississippi, known locally as "The Crossroads" for its position at the intersection of Interstate 55, U.S. Route 51, and U.S. Route 82. The school serves pre-kindergarten through sixth grade as part of the Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District. It is a traditional public school, not a charter or magnet. The enrollment is moderate for an elementary school serving this grade band, with class sizes distributed fairly evenly across kindergarten through sixth grade and a small group of ungraded students.
The student body reflects the community it serves. A clear majority of students are Black, with a substantial White minority and small numbers of students identifying as Hispanic, Asian, or two or more races. Every student at the school qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which means the entire enrollment is economically disadvantaged under federal guidelines. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available in the provided records, so those populations cannot be characterized here.
On state assessments, the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program, Winona Elementary's results paint a mixed picture that varies by subject and grade. In mathematics, third and fourth graders show relatively strong proficiency, with roughly half or more demonstrating mastery. Proficiency drops sharply in fifth grade before partially recovering in sixth. English language arts follows a different pattern, starting lower in third grade and climbing through fourth and fifth, where it reaches its highest point, then easing back in sixth. Fifth-grade science stands out as the school's strongest result, with a majority of tested students reaching proficiency. Participation rates were not reported for any grade or subject, and no multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent improvement, decline, or stability over time. A parent trying to understand the dip in fifth-grade math may want to look into this further with the school, as the drop is notable relative to the grades around it.
The town of Winona has a layered history. It grew as a railroad trading post and retains a designated Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The built environment is low-density and auto-oriented, consistent with a small Mississippi county seat. The town has seen its population decline over recent census cycles, yet it has also attracted industrial investment, most publicly a Biewer Lumber sawmill announced in early 2021 that was projected to bring new jobs to Montgomery County, and a Pilot Travel Centers location that took over a former travel center previously owned by former NFL player Kent Hull. A destructive EF3 tornado struck the southern side of Winona in March 2023, causing heavy damage and loss of life, an event that shaped the community's recent experience. The district brief notes that the consolidation forming the current Winona-Montgomery Consolidated district occurred outside the recent change window, and no other lasting parent-relevant changes were found in available sources.
Housing in the school's zip code is very affordable relative to both the state and national benchmarks. Home values sit well below the Mississippi state average and far below national figures, and the price-to-income ratio is favorable for buyers. No rental market data was available for this area. The broader economic context includes a national unemployment rate that has held steady in a modest range and mortgage rates that have fluctuated but remain elevated by historical standards.
The school does not have a graduation rate, which is expected because it serves only elementary and early middle grades. No data on course access, staffing ratios, discipline, attendance, Title I status, or school locale classification was provided, so those dimensions of school life cannot be described here. Program offerings and extracurricular information were also absent from the available data. What the record does show is a school serving a high-poverty community with uneven but in places genuinely strong academic results, particularly in early-grade math and fifth-grade science, set in a small town working through economic transition and recovery from natural disaster.
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