The top reported proficiency rate is 37% in Science. The lowest is 17% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Carver Middle School
Carver Middle School served the middle grades in Collins, Mississippi, as part of the Covington County School District. The school is now closed, which means any family considering this area should look to the district's current configuration and reassignment plans rather than expecting Carver to operate as it once did. The district, the town, and the state assessment record from the school's final reported year still tell a story worth understanding for parents weighing the area.
On the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program, Carver's results from the school year ending in 2023 show a pattern that is consistent across most grades and subjects: proficiency was low in math, modest in English language arts, and somewhat stronger in science. Math proficiency was the softest area, with the fifth grade in particular showing very few students reaching proficiency. English language arts results were somewhat better but still had only a minority of students at proficient or above in every tested grade. Science was the relative bright spot, with a larger share of students demonstrating proficiency in both the fifth- and eighth-grade science assessments. Across subjects, seventh grade stood out as the strongest performing grade in math. A parent reviewing these results may want to ask the district what instructional changes have followed, especially given the school's closure.
Enrollment figures, demographic breakdowns, free- and reduced-price lunch rates, and special population data were not available in the records provided. The absence of this information makes it harder to characterize the peer environment Carver students experienced. The school served grades five through eight based on the assessment data, though the official grade designation in the directory is listed only as middle school. No program offerings, course access details, staffing data, discipline records, or attendance information were included in the available data.
Collins is a small county-seat town at the crossroads of U.S. Routes 49 and 84 in south-central Mississippi. It has a compact downtown around the Covington County Courthouse, residential neighborhoods, and highway commercial strips. The town is car-dependent with no mass transit. Sidewalks link some subdivisions to the center, but walkability is limited to the downtown core and nearby streets. Civic life centers on Bettie D. Robertson Park with its athletic fields, walking track, and playground, plus Westside Park for basketball. The annual Okatoma Festival on the first Saturday in May brings carnival rides, vendors, and local food downtown. Okatoma Creek runs along the southwest side of town.
The local economy rests on Covington County Hospital, the school district itself, and city and county government. Highway-oriented retail along U.S. 49 and 84 also provides jobs, along with tourism-adjacent businesses like Grand Paradise Water Park and Mitchell Farms. Collins is experiencing population decline rather than growth, with estimates showing the town shrinking modestly since the 2020 census. The median household income is low, and the poverty rate is elevated compared with national norms.
Housing in the area is quite affordable. Typical home values sit well below the state benchmark and far below national levels, reflecting the rural, small-town market. A family buying a home here would face a price-to-income ratio below the national average, and estimated monthly mortgage costs are modest relative to typical rents. Rental data was not available.
The Covington County School District operates schools in Collins, Mount Olive, and Seminary. A publicly reported development of interest to parents: in 2021, a federal court released the district from decades of desegregation oversight and granted it unitary status. This gave the district full autonomy over attendance zones, staffing, and school assignment. For families in Collins, that means boundary and feeder patterns could shift as the district exercises its new flexibility, and the closure of Carver Middle School is itself part of that evolving picture.
For a family looking at Collins today, the relevant questions are where middle-grade students now attend school, how the district has redistributed Carver's former enrollment, and what the current schools' academic results look like. The assessment record from Carver's last year points to genuine academic challenges, particularly in math, and the school's closure means those challenges have not disappeared but moved to whatever setting now serves those students.
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