The top reported proficiency rate is 72% in Science. The lowest is 55% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Kosciusko Upper Elem
Kosciusko Upper Elementary sits in the heart of Attala County, serving only the fourth and fifth grades. It is part of the Kosciusko School District, the public system anchored in this small county seat northeast of Jackson. The school draws from a community where cotton has long shaped the surrounding landscape and where the city promotes itself as a gateway to the Natchez Trace Parkway, a route that brings millions of travelers through the area each year. Kosciusko's civic life centers on a historic courthouse square near a natural spring where the old trace once crossed a path to the Creek Indian Nation. Manufacturing, retail, and tourism form the local economic base, though the city does not publicly name its largest employers. The population has edged downward in recent estimates, and housing values here run well below both the Mississippi and national benchmarks, with the typical home value sitting at a fraction of the state figure and far below the national one. Estimated monthly mortgage costs are modest, and rent data was not available.
The school is small for its grade band, enrolling a few hundred students across two grades. A very large share of those students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, reflecting the economic conditions of the surrounding area. The student body is predominantly Black or African American, with a smaller White population and a handful of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not reported, so those populations cannot be described here. The school is not a charter school. No magnet designation, Title I status, or locale classification appeared in the available data.
On Mississippi's MAAP assessments, the most recent results paint a picture of a school holding its own, with real strength in some areas and room to grow in others. Science stands out as the brightest spot. Fifth-grade science proficiency runs well above what most schools in the state achieve, and it is the school's strongest result by a comfortable margin. In English language arts, fifth graders also perform at a solid level, with a clear majority reaching proficiency. Fourth-grade ELA is more middling, with roughly half of tested students clearing the proficient bar. Mathematics shows a similar split. Fourth-grade math is the stronger of the two grade levels, with a solid majority proficient. Fifth-grade math dips, with just over half reaching that mark. The pattern across subjects suggests the school does well building on prior knowledge in science and literacy as students move toward middle school, while fifth-grade math may be an area a parent wants to look into further with the school. No participation rates were reported for any assessment, and no multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent improvement, decline, or stability over time.
Because the school serves only fourth and fifth grades, there is no graduation rate, no college or career readiness data, and no advanced coursework to describe. Those metrics belong to the upper grades in the district. Program offerings, extracurriculars, staffing details, discipline data, and attendance information were not included in the available data, so they are left out here rather than guessed. The district brief turned up no confirmed parent-relevant changes in recent years.
What a family finds at Kosciusko Upper Elementary is a two-year bridge school in a small, historically rooted Mississippi town with affordable housing and a tourism-connected economy. The academic results are strongest in science and fifth-grade literacy, moderate in fourth-grade ELA, and softer in fifth-grade math. The school serves a high-poverty, predominantly Black student population in a community where the cost of living is low and the civic identity runs deep, tied to the Trace, the courthouse square, and a calendar of festivals and fairs that bring the town together.
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