Mc Lain Elementary School, Mclain MS

Original Research by School Decision on Mc Lain Elementary School

McLain Elementary School sits on Shows Street along the bypass in McLain, a very small rural town in southwestern Greene County, Mississippi, near the Leaf River. The school serves pre-kindergarten through eighth grade as part of the Greene County School District. It is a traditional public school, not a charter or magnet. With an enrollment of roughly one hundred sixty students spread across those grades, it is a small school, and every grade cohort is tiny. That small size shapes much of what the data can and cannot tell you.

Every student at McLain Elementary qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a reflection of the town's broader economic circumstances. McLain has experienced steady population decline over several decades, and publicly reported data describe a community facing high poverty. The local economy employs people mainly in construction, retail trade, and health care, with no large employers identified. The town has been tested by natural disasters, including major flooding that once closed roads and the school, and an EF2 tornado that struck in early 2022. Civic life centers on a volunteer fire department, a citizen-run public library, and a post office. The town has been working toward relocating its municipal functions to the Highway 98 corridor to improve visibility and attract business, and it relies heavily on federal grants and USDA loans for basic infrastructure like sewer upgrades. There is no walkable commercial core, no public transit, and limited civic infrastructure.

State assessment results from the most recent year tell a mixed and uneven story. In English language arts, proficiency ranges from about half of third graders to a strong showing in eighth grade, where a clear majority reached proficiency. Fifth and sixth grades also performed well in ELA. Math results swing more sharply. Third grade math proficiency was strong, and seventh grade was similarly high, but fourth grade and sixth grade math proficiency fell to very low levels. Science results, which are tested only in fifth and eighth grades, were solid in both, with a majority of students reaching proficiency in each. The wide grade-to-grade variation is consistent with what you see in very small cohorts, where a handful of students moving above or below the proficiency line can shift the picture substantially. A parent looking at these results would want to ask the school how instruction connects from one grade to the next, especially in math where the dips are most pronounced.

Several categories of data were not available. Information on individualized education programs, English learner status, staffing levels, discipline, attendance, and course access was not reported. The school does not have a graduation rate because it does not serve high school grades. No program offerings, magnet status, or Title I details were provided. We looked for the district's recent parent-relevant changes and found little, so we left it out rather than guess.

Housing in the area is quite affordable compared with state and national levels, with typical home values well below the Mississippi benchmark and far below the national one. Those values have been rising at a healthy clip recently, but from a low base. Rental data was not available. For a family considering a move, the housing market would not be a barrier, though economic opportunity in the immediate area is limited.

What McLain Elementary offers is a small, community-rooted environment where children stay in one building from their earliest years through eighth grade. The student body is mostly white with a substantial Black minority and a very small number of Hispanic and multiracial students. The school's ELA and science results are generally encouraging, while math results show sharp dips that a parent may want to look into further with the school. The surrounding town is quiet, rural, and working through real economic and infrastructure challenges, with civic life oriented around highway corridors and a few dedicated local institutions.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 363%

School 63% · District 50% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 47%

School 7% · District 45% · ▼ 37 pts below district

▼ 43 pts below state median

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 34% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median

Grade 613%

School 13% · District 39% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 38 pts below state median

Grade 767%

School 67% · District 60% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 32% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 47% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 44% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 53% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 667%

School 67% · District 45% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median

Grade 733%

School 33% · District 39% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median

Grade 870%

School 70% · District 55% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median

Science

Grade 571%

School 71% · District 70% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median

Grade 865%

School 65% · District 60% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median

This schoolGREENE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.