The top reported proficiency rate is 54% in Science. The lowest is 43% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on North Jones Elementary School
North Jones Elementary sits on Trace Road in Laurel, Mississippi, serving pre-kindergarten through sixth grade as part of the Jones County School District. It is a sizable elementary school for the area, drawing a mixed student body that is roughly evenly split between white and Black students, with a meaningful Hispanic presence and a smaller share of multiracial students. A very large proportion of its students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which reflects the economic realities of the surrounding community more than anything about the school itself.
Laurel is a small city with a layered identity. It grew up as a lumber town, and the wealth from that timber era shaped its broad avenues, public parks, and a historic district that ranks among Mississippi's finest collections of early twentieth-century architecture. Manufacturing and healthcare still anchor the local economy, with employers like Howard Industries, Sanderson Farms, Masonite, and South Central Regional Medical Center providing much of the work base. In recent years, the HGTV "Hometown" series has brought renovation activity and tourism to the downtown core, giving the city a modest second wind after decades of population decline following the loss of manufacturing jobs. The city sits within driving distance of Jackson, Biloxi, New Orleans, and Mobile, and interstate and highway access is solid. Most of Laurel falls under the separate Laurel School District, with small portions, including this school's attendance area, in the Jones County School District.
Housing in the school's zip code is affordable relative to both state and national benchmarks. Typical home values run well below the Mississippi statewide figure and far below the national median, which means families looking to buy near the school face relatively modest purchase costs. Estimated monthly mortgage payments sit below typical rent burdens in the area, and the price-to-income ratio is low. For families prioritizing affordability, the area around North Jones offers that.
On state assessments, the most recent MAAP results show a school with real variation across grade levels. Third graders posted middling proficiency in math and a clear majority-grade showing in English language arts, with roughly half clearing the proficient bar. Fourth grade was the softest spot, with proficiency dropping notably in both subjects. Fifth grade math was the lowest point across all tested grades and subjects, while fifth-grade science and ELA landed in a middling range. Sixth grade was the strongest performing cohort, with a solid majority proficient in math and a clear majority in ELA as well. The pattern suggests that students who stay through the upper elementary grades at North Jones may be building momentum, though the dip in fourth and fifth grade is something a parent may want to look into further with the school. No trend data across multiple years was available, so it is hard to say whether these results reflect a one-year pattern or a persistent grade-level challenge.
Because North Jones is an elementary school serving through grade six, there is no graduation rate, no AP or career-pathway data, and no high-school-level course access to assess. Those measures simply do not apply to this grade band. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not reported, so a complete picture of special-population support is not available from what we have. Discipline, attendance, and staffing details were also absent from the available data. We looked for the district's recent strategic priorities or parent-relevant changes and found little, so we left that out rather than guess.
What a parent is looking at here is a community-rooted elementary school in an affordable small-city setting with an industrial heritage and a modest cultural revival underway. The academic results are uneven but show strength in the upper grades, the student body is diverse, and the economic needs of the community are substantial. Families drawn to Laurel's character and cost of living will find a school that mirrors those realities.
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