The top reported proficiency rate is 42% in Science. The lowest is 21% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Hawkins Middle School
Hawkins Middle School sits on Oak Street in Forest, Mississippi, serving grades five through eight as part of the Forest Municipal School District. It is a traditional public school, not a charter or magnet, and its enrollment is modest for a middle school covering four grades. The student body is predominantly Hispanic and Black, with a smaller white population and a few students identifying as Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, or two or more races. Every student at Hawkins qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which marks it as a school serving a community with deep economic need. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not available, so those populations are a gap a parent may want to ask the school about directly.
On the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program, Hawkins shows a clear pattern across its four grades. Math proficiency is strongest in the lower grades, with about a third of fifth and sixth graders reaching proficiency, then dips in seventh and eighth grade to roughly a quarter. English language arts follows a steeper slide: fifth grade sits near the top of the school's range, sixth grade drops, seventh grade is the lowest point, and eighth grade recovers slightly but remains below where fifth grade started. Science, tested only in fifth and eighth grade, is the school's relative bright spot, with proficiency running ahead of math and ELA in both tested grades. These are not strong numbers overall, and the decline from fifth to seventh grade in both core subjects suggests students are losing ground as they move through the building. A parent considering Hawkins would want to understand what the school is doing to address that middle-grade slide, particularly in reading and writing.
No multi-year trend data was available, so it is impossible to say from this data whether performance is improving, declining, or holding steady. Participation rates for the state assessments were also missing from the data provided.
Forest itself is a small city and the seat of Scott County. The local economy runs on poultry processing, with Koch Foods, Tyson Foods, and Forest Packing Company as major employers, alongside a Raytheon manufacturing center that builds electronic equipment for radar and sensor systems. The city describes itself as maintaining a small-town atmosphere amid progressive business and industrial development. It is car-dependent, with most residents driving alone to work and no public transit. Interstate 20 runs through, connecting Forest to the broader region. The population has been declining over the past two decades, and median household income, while rising modestly in recent years, remains low relative to national figures.
Housing in the 39074 zip code is inexpensive compared with both state and national benchmarks. The typical home value sits well below the Mississippi state benchmark and far below the national figure, and the price-to-income ratio is low. Home values have been appreciating recently at a healthy clip, so a family buying into the area would find entry prices accessible but should know the market is moving upward. Rental data was not available for this location.
The broader community offers Gaddis Park and city recreational facilities, with Roosevelt State Park and the Bienville Pines Scenic Area nearby. East Central Community College operates a career-technical center in Forest, which could be relevant for families thinking ahead to high school pathways. A small portion of Forest falls in the separate Scott County School District, though Hawkins belongs to the municipal district.
Information on school-level programs, course access, staffing ratios, discipline data, attendance, and Title I status was not available in the data provided. The district-level brief on recent changes, bond issues, or strategic priorities returned no usable results, so there is nothing to report on that front. These gaps mean the picture here is built mainly from assessment results, enrollment demographics, and community context. A parent would want to visit and ask how the school supports literacy across the middle grades, what interventions exist for students below proficiency, and how the nearly universal economic disadvantage shapes the resources and wraparound services available to kids.
Hawkins is a school serving a poor, predominantly minority student body in a small, industrially anchored Mississippi town, with state test results that trail state expectations and weaken as students move toward high school. Science is the strongest subject area. Housing is affordable and the community has industrial employment nearby, but the academic data points to real challenges a family should weigh carefully and discuss with the school before enrolling.
See more original research from School Decision →