The top reported proficiency rate is 37% in Science. The lowest is 16% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Johnson Elementary School
Johnson Elementary School sits on Oakpark Drive in north Jackson, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Jackson Public School District. It is a neighborhood elementary school with an enrollment that runs across those early grades in roughly even bands, plus a small ungraded group. The student body is almost entirely Black, with a handful of Hispanic and multiracial students and a very small number of white students. Every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which marks this as a school serving a high-poverty community.
The surrounding zip code is one of the most affordable housing markets in the state. Home values here sit far below the Mississippi baseline and a small fraction of national prices, and rents are correspondingly low. For a family looking to buy, the estimated monthly mortgage in this area is well under what a typical rent would run elsewhere, though mortgage rates nationally have been hovering in the mid-six percent range. This is a part of Jackson where housing costs are unlikely to be a barrier, but where the broader economic context, including decades of population loss and the city's well-documented infrastructure struggles, shapes daily life.
Jackson itself is Mississippi's capital and largest city, a government and medical hub straddling the Pearl River at the crossroads of Interstates 20 and 55. Publicly reported information notes that the city lost a larger share of its population over the 2010s than any major American city, with growth and commercial activity shifting to suburban Madison and Rankin counties. The University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson Public Schools, and the Nissan plant are the city's top employers. The district recently adopted a strategic plan covering 2024 through 2029, which will guide curriculum, instruction, and resource decisions, though specific program changes tied to that plan were not available in the materials reviewed.
On state assessments, Johnson's results are low across the board. In math, roughly one in six third, fourth, and fifth graders reached proficiency, with rates holding close together across those grades. English language arts was similar in third and fourth grade, with a slight uptick in fifth grade where about a quarter of tested students met the proficiency bar. Fifth grade science was the strongest result, with close to two-fifths of students demonstrating proficiency. These are the most recent MAAP results available, and no multi-year trend data was provided, so it is hard to say whether performance is moving in a particular direction. Participation rates were missing from the data set, so the share of enrolled students who actually sat for each test could not be confirmed.
A parent reading these proficiency numbers should take them at face value: they reflect real academic challenges at this school, and they are consistent with the kind of concentrated poverty Johnson serves. At the same time, the fifth grade science result suggests that some classrooms are producing stronger outcomes than the schoolwide averages might imply. A family considering Johnson would want to ask the school directly what supports are in place for reading and math, how the new district strategic plan is expected to change instruction, and what intervention or tutoring options exist for students working below grade level.
Several pieces of information that would help round out this picture were not available. The data did not include staffing figures, discipline data, course access details, attendance rates, special education or English learner counts, or a school locale classification. Title I status was also not reported, though given universal free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, the school almost certainly receives Title I funding. Magnet and charter designations were not indicated, and the school is not a charter. Without staffing and program information, it is hard to characterize the school's instructional approach or extracurricular offerings.
Johnson is a small, community-serving elementary school in a part of Jackson where affordability is not in question but where academic outcomes are a genuine concern. Families for whom proximity to this neighborhood matters, and who are prepared to engage closely with the school around academics, may find it workable. Those prioritizing stronger tested performance may want to look at other options within the district and ask hard questions about what the new strategic plan will deliver for schools like this one.
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