The top reported proficiency rate is 15% in Science. The lowest is 12% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Blackburn Middle School
Blackburn Middle School sits on West Pearl Street in Jackson, Mississippi, serving grades six through eight as part of Jackson Public School District. It is a traditional public school, neither a charter nor a magnet. The enrollment is moderate for a middle school, with students distributed fairly evenly across the three grade levels and a small number of ungraded students.
The student body is almost entirely Black, with only a handful of students from other racial or ethnic backgrounds. Every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which reflects the economic conditions in the surrounding neighborhood. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not reported, so those populations cannot be described here.
State assessment results from the current school year show low proficiency across every subject and grade. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above sits well below state expectations in all three grades, with the weakest results in eighth grade. English language arts results follow a similar pattern, with only a small fraction of students reaching proficiency in any grade. Science, tested only in eighth grade, shows a comparable level. These results are consistent across the school and point to a broad academic challenge rather than a gap in one subject or grade. A parent weighing this school may want to look into what supports and interventions are in place, and how the district's new strategic plan addresses academic growth.
Jackson Public School District recently adopted a strategic plan covering the next several years, which publicly reported materials describe as setting district-wide goals for curriculum, instruction, and resource allocation. How this plan translates into changes at Blackburn specifically is not yet clear from available data.
The school sits in a part of Jackson where housing values are very low compared with both state and national benchmarks. Home prices in the immediate zip code are a fraction of the statewide typical value and a smaller fraction still of national figures, and they have been declining. Rental data for the area was not available. For families considering buying a home near the school, ownership costs are low relative to incomes, though property values have been moving downward, which affects long-term equity prospects.
Jackson itself is Mississippi's capital and largest city, positioned on the Pearl River at the crossing of two interstate highways. The city's economy centers on state government, healthcare, and education, with the University of Mississippi Medical Center, the public school district, and a Nissan manufacturing plant serving as top employers. Jackson State University and Millsaps College function as civic anchors. The city has museums, parks, and sports venues that give it cultural weight beyond its size. At the same time, Jackson has faced serious challenges. The city experienced the largest population decline of any major American city over the past decade, and a water system failure drew national attention. Development has shifted toward suburban areas in Madison and Rankin counties, where major employers have located. The metro area as a whole remains the largest in Mississippi and continues to generate economic activity, even as the core city contracts.
For a family looking at Blackburn, the picture is one of a school serving a uniformly low-income student population in a city navigating deep structural challenges. The academic results are low across the board. The surrounding neighborhood offers very affordable housing but in a market where values have been falling. The district has a new strategic plan in motion, which signals attention to improvement, though whether that translates into measurable gains at the school level remains to be seen.
We did not find data on disciplinary practices, course offerings, staffing levels, attendance rates, or school locale classification, so those dimensions of the school environment could not be assessed. Information on specialized programs was also absent.
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