The top reported proficiency rate is 50% in English language arts. The lowest is 46% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Sand Hill Elementary School
Sand Hill Elementary School sits along Highway 63 North in Richton, Mississippi, and serves students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the Greene County School District, a public, non-charter system. The school is modest in size for its grade band, and its student body is overwhelmingly white, with only a handful of students from other racial or ethnic backgrounds. Every student in the building qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which means the entire enrollment is economically disadvantaged. The school does not report figures for special education enrollment or English learners, so those population details are not available here.
Richton itself is a small, predominantly residential rural town in Perry County, within the Hattiesburg metropolitan area. Publicly reported sources describe a community that has been losing population over recent census cycles, with limited commercial activity and no major new housing developments on the horizon. The town operates under a mayor-board of aldermen government, and civic buildings and schools sit close together within a compact town footprint. Specific major employers are not well documented in available sources, though the school district itself is a local public employer. Walkability, parks, and library information were not found in the search results for this community.
On state assessments, Sand Hill's results paint a mixed but informative picture. In English language arts, the school shows relative strength in the early elementary grades. Third, fourth, and fifth graders all post proficiency rates that sit at or above a comfortable majority of tested students, with fifth grade being the strongest cohort. The picture shifts in the middle grades. Sixth grade ELA proficiency drops off sharply, and seventh and eighth grade results remain below the strongest elementary levels. This pattern, where younger grades outperform older ones, is one a parent may want to look into further with the school, particularly if a child is approaching the transition from elementary to middle grades within this building.
Mathematics follows a similar arc but with wider swings. Fourth grade math stands out as the school's best result, with a clear majority of tested students reaching proficiency. Third grade is the weakest math cohort, and grades five through eight hover in a middling range that never quite returns to the fourth-grade peak. Seventh grade math is the strongest of the middle-grade results, suggesting some recovery after the sixth-grade dip. Science is tested only in fifth and eighth grade here. Fifth graders perform reasonably well, with a slim majority proficient, but eighth grade science falls below that level.
No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether these results are improving, declining, or holding steady over time. Participation rates for state testing are also missing from the data provided. Because the school does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report. The same grade configuration means no AP, dual-credit, or career pathway data applies to this school.
The housing market around Richton is affordable compared with both state and national benchmarks. Home values in the school's zip code sit well below the statewide typical home value and roughly half the national figure, and recent appreciation has been modest. Rent data was not available. For a family considering the area, this means housing costs are low relative to much of the country, which aligns with the rural, small-town character of the community. The price-to-income ratio sits below the national level, suggesting that local incomes stretch further against home prices here than in many places.
Several categories of information that parents often look for were not available in the data provided. There is no staffing information, no discipline or civil-rights data, no course-access detail, and no reported extracurricular or program offerings. The school's Title I status is not specified, though the universal free-or-reduced-price-lunch rate suggests the school would likely qualify. No neighbor comparison data was provided to position Sand Hill against nearby schools. The Greene County School District brief returned no parent-relevant changes such as curriculum shifts, referendums, or property-tax adjustments in recent reporting.
What the available evidence shows is a small, rural, high-poverty school serving a tight-knit, homogeneous community where early literacy is a relative bright spot and middle-grade performance softens. Families drawn to affordable small-town living and a single building that carries children from pre-K through eighth grade may find the continuity appealing. Those whose children are entering the upper grades may want to ask the school directly about how it supports academic growth in those years.
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