The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in Science. The lowest is 29% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Hazlehurst Middle School
Hazlehurst Middle School sits on Marvin Minor Drive in the small county-seat town of Hazlehurst, Mississippi, serving grades six through eight as part of the Hazlehurst City School District. The town lies roughly a half-hour south of Jackson along Interstate 55, a rural community whose economy runs on agriculture, particularly tomatoes and cabbage, with county government and school district offices anchoring civic life. The Copiah County courthouse sits at the center of downtown, framed by magnolia trees, and a former train depot now houses the Mississippi Music Museum. An Amtrak station on the City of New Orleans line connects the town to Jackson to the north and New Orleans to the south. Walkability is limited mostly to the downtown core and nearby residential streets. The town has been losing population for two decades, and no major new housing developments or growth projects surfaced in publicly reported sources.
The school itself is small for a three-grade middle school. Its enrollment is overwhelmingly Black, with a Hispanic population that represents the second-largest group, and very small numbers of white, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaska Native, and multiracial students. Every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. The school is not a charter and not a magnet. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not reported, so those populations are unknown here.
State assessment results from the most recent year tell a mixed but recognizable story. In math, proficiency in sixth and seventh grade sits around the midpoint, with a solid share of students meeting or exceeding the state bar. That drops off sharply by eighth grade, where only a small fraction reaches proficiency. The same downward pattern appears in English language arts. Sixth-grade ELA proficiency is moderate, then seventh and eighth grade both fall well below that level. Eighth-grade science, the only grade tested in that subject, lands at a middling level, with close to half of tested students reaching proficiency. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is hard to say whether the eighth-grade dip is a persistent pattern or a one-year result tied to this particular cohort. Participation rates were also missing from the state data set. A parent may want to ask the school directly what is driving the steep eighth-grade decline in both math and reading, and whether intervention strategies are in place for students falling behind as they prepare for high school.
The housing market in the school's zip code is affordable relative to both state and national benchmarks, with typical home values well below the Mississippi statewide figure and far below the national figure. The area has seen a slight year-over-year decline in home values, which is consistent with the town's broader population-loss trajectory. For families considering a move, this means entry-level purchase prices, though the limited inventory and absence of new development may restrict options. Rental data was not available.
Beyond test scores, the picture thins. No program offerings, course-access data, staffing levels, discipline data, or attendance figures were provided. Civil-rights data was absent as well. We looked for the district's strategic priorities or recent changes such as curriculum shifts, bond referendums, or leadership transitions, but publicly reported sources turned up little of lasting impact beyond a historical state takeover context. A neighboring-district comparison set was not available for this school, so there is no ready benchmark against nearby Copiah County districts.
What a parent can take from the available evidence is that Hazlehurst Middle School is a small, high-poverty middle school serving a predominantly Black student body in a quiet, agriculturally rooted county seat. Its younger grades show reasonable proficiency in math and moderate performance in reading, while eighth-grade results in both core subjects are weak. The town itself offers a traditional small-town grid, daily rail service, and an interstate connection to Jackson, but limited economic activity and a shrinking population. Families drawn to the area by affordable housing and a close-knit community setting would want to supplement this picture with direct conversations at the school, particularly around the upper-grade academic slide and what supports exist for the transition to high school.
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