The top reported proficiency rate is 65% in Science. The lowest is 32% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Mc Neal Elementary School
McNeal Elementary School sits on Martin Luther King Drive in Canton, the county seat of Madison County, Mississippi. It serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Canton Public School District, drawing from a community where nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly Black, with a smaller Hispanic presence and a handful of students identifying as white or multiracial. The enrollment is moderate for an elementary school in this grade band, spread fairly evenly across the early grades with slight thinning by fifth grade.
State assessment results from the most recent year tell a mixed but directionally encouraging story. In both math and English language arts, third-grade proficiency sits at the lower end, with fewer than a third of tested students reaching proficiency. Fourth grade marks a clear step up in both subjects, with a larger share of students clearing the proficiency bar. Fifth grade holds roughly steady in math and dips slightly in ELA compared to fourth grade but remains well above the third-grade starting point. The standout result is fifth-grade science, where a clear majority of students tested proficient, a genuinely strong outcome that suggests the school is doing something right in science instruction as students prepare to leave for middle school. Participation rates were not reported, so it is worth noting that gap. A parent may want to look into participation and subgroup performance further with the school, since the data here reflects all students combined and does not break out by group.
No multi-year trend data was available, so it is impossible to say from the provided figures whether these results represent improvement, stability, or decline over time. The school's IEP and English-learner rates were also missing, as were staffing details, discipline data, attendance figures, and any course or program offerings beyond what the standard curriculum implies. Title I status and locale classification were not reported either. These gaps are common in the available data for schools of this size and type, and a parent weighing enrollment should ask the school directly about special education services, English-language support, and enrichment programming.
The surrounding community shapes what life looks like for families here. Canton is a historic city with a courthouse square district listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a renovated railroad depot that houses a train museum, and a Multicultural Center and Museum chronicling civil rights history. The city sits on the Mississippi Blues Trail and has a film production heritage. A large Nissan automotive assembly plant just outside the southwest city limits is the dominant employer, along with city and county government and the school district itself. Interstate 55 provides regional access. The bi-annual Canton Flea Market and a Victorian Christmas Festival draw visitors seasonally, giving the town bursts of activity centered on the historic square. Publicly reported sources note that Canton's population has declined over recent decades, and the city has leaned into historic preservation as an economic strategy. Neighboring Gluckstadt to the south may be exerting some suburban growth pressure.
For housing, the area is relatively affordable by national standards. Home values in the school's zip code sit below the national benchmark but above the statewide Mississippi figure, and rents are modest. The price-to-income ratio suggests that buying a home here is within reach for many working families compared with much of the country, and rent costs a smaller share of income than the mortgage on a typical home, which is worth noting for families deciding between renting and buying.
At the district level, publicly reported information indicates that Canton Public School District's graduation rate has risen substantially in recent years and now ranks among the higher-performing districts in Mississippi for graduating students. That is a relevant data point for elementary families because it speaks to the pathway ahead, even though McNeal itself is many years removed from the high school grades where that metric applies.
What McNeal appears to offer is a community-rooted elementary experience in a historic, working Mississippi town with an industrial anchor and a modest cost of living. The academic results show real strength in fifth-grade science and meaningful improvement from third to fourth grade in core subjects, alongside lower starting proficiency in the earliest tested grades. Families considering this school should weigh the science outcome and the upward grade-to-grade trajectory as encouraging signs, while asking direct questions about early-grade interventions, subgroup performance, and the support services the data did not capture.
See more original research from School Decision →