The top reported proficiency rate is 55% in Science. The lowest is 40% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on North Forrest High School
North Forrest High School sits on Eatonville Road in Hattiesburg, serving grades seven through twelve as part of the Forrest County School District. It is a small school for its grade span, with enrollment spread fairly evenly across the grades. The student body is predominantly Black, with a smaller White population and small Hispanic and multiracial groups. The vast majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, reflecting the economic conditions in the surrounding area.
Hattiesburg itself is a mid-sized city and the principal hub of Mississippi's Pine Belt region. It is a university town, home to the University of Southern Mississippi and William Carey University, with a strong military presence nearby at Camp Shelby, the largest National Guard training base east of the Mississippi River. The city earned its "Hub City" nickname from its historic position at the crossing of major rail lines and highways, and today it remains an auto-oriented place with limited walkability outside select downtown pockets and cultural destinations. Publicly reported sources describe a city shaped by growth pressures following Hurricane Katrina, when evacuees and new residents from coastal areas arrived, and by a west-side annexation that added commercial land. The housing market in the school's zip code is quite affordable compared with both state and national benchmarks, with typical home values well below the Mississippi average and rents that look modest relative to income.
On state assessments, the available data covers only the middle-grade portion of the school. Math results show a split: seventh-grade proficiency is moderate, with a majority of tested students reaching proficiency, while eighth-grade math drops off sharply, with fewer than a quarter meeting that bar. ELA follows a similar pattern, with about half of seventh-graders proficient and a smaller share of eighth-graders reaching that level. Eighth-grade science stands out as the strongest result, with a majority of students demonstrating proficiency. The decline from seventh to eighth grade in math and ELA is a pattern a parent may want to look into further with the school. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is hard to tell whether this grade-to-grade gap is typical or unusual.
Several categories of information that parents often ask about were not available in the data provided. There were no high school end-of-course assessment results, which in Mississippi typically cover subjects like Algebra I, Biology, and English II. No graduation rate was reported for the school. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was missing. Course access, staffing ratios, attendance, discipline, and civil-rights reporting were all absent from the available material. The district brief for Forrest County School District did not surface any parent-relevant changes such as recent bond measures, curriculum shifts, or facility updates.
What the available picture suggests is a small, predominantly Black, high-poverty secondary school in an affordable part of a university-anchored city. The middle-grade test results are mixed, with real strength in seventh-grade math and eighth-grade science but a concerning drop in eighth-grade math in particular. Without high school assessment data, a graduation rate, or information on course offerings and staffing, the academic picture for the upper grades remains incomplete. Families considering this school would benefit from asking directly about what happens in classrooms from ninth grade onward, what courses and pathways are available, and how the school supports students through the transition where the available data shows proficiency declining.
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