The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in Math. The lowest is 55% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Glade Elementary School
Glade Elementary School sits on Highway 15 South in Laurel, Mississippi, serving pre-kindergarten through sixth grade as part of the Jones County School District. It is a traditional public school, neither a charter nor a magnet, drawing from a community where most of Laurel falls under the separate Laurel School District but small portions, including this area, sit within the Jones County district boundaries.
The school's academic results on Mississippi's MAAP assessment tell a mixed but largely encouraging story in the early grades. Third and fourth graders posted strong math proficiency, with most tested students clearing the state's proficiency bar. This is a genuine strength, suggesting the school's foundational math instruction in the lower elementary years is working well. English language arts results in those same grades are more moderate, with fourth grade standing out as the strongest and third grade trailing behind. In science, assessed only at fifth grade, the school landed in a middling range.
The clearest soft spot appears in fifth grade math, where proficiency dropped sharply compared to the grades just below and above it. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, whether the drop reflects a cohort issue, a curricular transition, or something about how fifth grade math is taught. Sixth grade math recovered to a moderate level, and sixth grade ELA held in a similar range, so the dip looks isolated rather than systemic across upper grades. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether this pattern is new or recurring.
The student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful Black enrollment and smaller shares of Hispanic students and students of two or more races. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places Glade among schools serving a working-class population. Data on special education enrollment and English learners was not reported, so those dimensions of the school's student support picture are not visible here. The school does not have high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Title I status, staffing ratios, discipline data, and attendance figures were also absent from the available information.
Laurel itself is a small city with deep roots in the timber industry. The lumber boom of the early twentieth century shaped its broad avenues, historic homes, and civic institutions, and the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art remains a cultural anchor as Mississippi's oldest art museum. Manufacturing and healthcare anchor the local economy, with employers like Howard Industries, Sanderson Farms, and South Central Regional Medical Center. In recent years, HGTV's "Hometown" series has drawn tourism and renovation activity to the historic downtown, bringing a modest revival to a city that saw its population fall substantially from its historical peak. Interstate 59 and several U.S. and state highways connect Laurel to larger regional cities.
Housing in the school's zip code is affordable by any standard. Typical home values sit well below the state benchmark and far below national levels, and the area has seen a slight decline in values over the past year rather than the appreciation occurring statewide and nationally. For families looking to buy, the price-to-income ratio is low and estimated monthly mortgage costs are modest. Rental data was not available, so a full picture of the rental market is not possible from what was provided. Jones College, a community college, serves the broader county area for families thinking ahead to post-secondary options.
We looked for recent district-level changes or initiatives in Jones County School District that might affect Glade families, but publicly reported information was thin, so we left it out rather than guess. The comparison fact-set that would position Glade against neighboring schools in its county was also not available.
What emerges is a school of moderate size for its grade band with solid early-grade math results, moderate reading performance, and a fifth-grade math dip that warrants attention. It serves a working-class community in a city balancing industrial heritage with a nascent renovation-driven renewal, all at housing costs that remain among the more accessible in the state.
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