The top reported proficiency rate is 39% in Science. The lowest is 16% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Timberlawn Elementary School
Timberlawn Elementary sits on North Siwell Road in western Jackson, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Jackson Public School District. It is a traditional public school, not a charter or magnet, drawing from a neighborhood where housing values sit far below both the state and national benchmarks. The surrounding zip code is among the most affordable places to buy a home in the metro area, with a price-to-income ratio that suggests a household earning a typical income could carry a mortgage without stretching. That affordability shapes who lives near the school and who enrolls.
The student body is small for an elementary school spanning six grade levels, and the enrollment is distributed fairly evenly across those grades. Every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which means the school operates with the understanding that all of its families meet the federal income threshold for that support. The student population is almost entirely Black, with a handful of children identifying as white, Hispanic, or two or more races. Data on special-education enrollment and English-learner status was not reported, so a parent would need to ask the school directly about those services.
On the most recent Mississippi Academic Assessment Program results, Timberlawn's English language arts performance is meaningfully stronger than its math performance across every tested grade. In third, fourth, and fifth grade, roughly a third to just over a third of students reached proficiency in reading and writing. Science proficiency in fifth grade was similar, landing close to the ELA level. Math tells a different story. Proficiency rates in math were well below the ELA figures in all three tested grades, with the lowest result in fourth grade. A parent looking at these results would want to understand what the school is doing differently in literacy instruction that is not yet translating to math, and whether the district's new strategic plan addresses that gap. The plan, adopted for the period running through the latter part of this decade, is publicly reported to set district-wide goals for curriculum, instruction, and resource allocation, though the available material does not detail specific math initiatives at the school level.
The school sits in a city that has been through a difficult stretch. Jackson is Mississippi's capital and remains the state's largest city, home to state government, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson State University, and a Nissan manufacturing plant. But the core city has lost a substantial share of its population over the past decade, the largest decline among major American cities during that period. A widely reported water-system failure disrupted daily life, and development pressure has shifted toward suburban Madison and Rankin counties. For a family at Timberlawn, this means the broader neighborhood context is one of disinvestment pressures even as major institutions and employers remain in the metro. The area is sprawling and auto-dependent, typical of Sun Belt capitals, with limited walkability around the school site itself.
What a parent gets at Timberlawn is a small, community-rooted elementary school serving an economically disadvantaged, nearly entirely Black student population in an affordable but challenged part of Jackson. Reading instruction appears to be the school's relative strength, while math outcomes are a clear area of concern. The district's freshly adopted strategic plan may bring changes, but right now a family weighing this school should ask specific questions about math intervention, what the literacy program looks like, and how the district plans to support schools in neighborhoods facing the most economic pressure.
See more original research from School Decision →