The top reported proficiency rate is 68% in Science. The lowest is 38% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Houlka Attendance Center
Houlka Attendance Center is a single campus serving pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in the small rural town of New Houlka, Mississippi, part of the Chickasaw County School District. The town sits in Chickasaw County along the former Gulf and Ship Island Railroad corridor, at the crossroads of the Natchez Trace and Gaines Trace. Publicly reported sources describe New Houlka as a compact settlement with a traditional small-town layout, where schools and civic functions sit within the town rather than on separated campuses. The Tanglefoot Trail, a rail-trail built on the abandoned Mississippi Tennessee Railroad right-of-way, passes through and serves as a key recreational resource. Pontotoc lies a short drive to the north, and Houston is nearby, both functioning as larger commercial and civic centers. No public library or transit system specific to New Houlka was identified. Median household income in the area is low, with a substantial portion of the population below the poverty line. The town's population has fluctuated without a clear growth trajectory, and no major housing developments or commercial projects surfaced in public reporting.
The school's enrollment is small for a campus spanning pre-kindergarten through senior year, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is roughly split between white and Black students, with small Hispanic and multiracial populations. IEP and English-learner counts were not available in the data provided, so those populations cannot be characterized here.
On Mississippi's MAAP assessments for the most recent school year, math proficiency varies across grade levels. The lower elementary grades show weaker results, with third and fourth grade landing below the midpoint. Performance climbs in the upper elementary and middle grades, where fifth, sixth, and eighth grade reach a stronger band. Seventh grade sits in between. English language arts follows a similar but more muted pattern, with the lowest results appearing in seventh and eighth grade, where proficiency drops sharply. Fifth grade ELA stands out as a relative bright spot, and science results are a genuine strength, with both tested grades showing a majority of students reaching proficiency. The fifth grade science rate in particular is strong. A parent weighing this school may want to look further into the middle-grade ELA results with the administration, as those figures represent the clearest soft spot in the academic picture.
Participation rate data was not reported for any of the tested grades, so it is unclear whether all eligible students were assessed. Small tested counts in each grade mean that results can shift noticeably from year to year with normal cohort variation, which is worth keeping in mind when reading these numbers.
No graduation rate was included in the data, and no course access, staffing, discipline, or attendance information was available. Program offerings such as AP, dual-credit, or career pathways were not reported either, so families would need to inquire directly with the school about what is available at the high school level. Civil-rights data was also absent from the payload.
Housing in the ZIP code area is inexpensive relative to both state and national benchmarks, with home values well below the Mississippi median and far below the national figure. Year-over-year appreciation has been positive but modest. For a family already rooted in or drawn to this part of Chickasaw County, the cost of living is among the lowest a parent will find.
The Chickasaw County School District itself is the product of a recent structural change. On July first of that consolidation year, the Houston School District and the former Chickasaw County School District were dissolved and merged into a newly formed district, as required by Mississippi state law. A new consolidated board replaced the former ones, reshuffling governance, attendance zones, and resource allocation across Houston and Houlka. That restructuring still carries implications for how the district operates today, and families new to the area may encounter its effects in school assignments and property tax structure.
What Houlka Attendance Center offers is a small, rural, single-campus pathway from pre-kindergarten through graduation in a town where housing is very affordable and the community is compact. Its elementary and middle-grade math and science results have real strengths. Its middle-grade reading results are a concern worth asking about. Beyond that, the available data runs thin, and a family considering this school should plan to fill in the gaps on high school programming, special populations, and graduation outcomes through direct conversation with the district.
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