The top reported proficiency rate is 86% in Science. The lowest is 68% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Clarkdale Elementary School
ClarkdaleElementary School sits on Highway 145 near Meridian, Mississippi, and serves pre-kindergarten through sixth grade as part of the Lauderdale County School District. It is a traditional public school, neither a charter nor a magnet, and its enrollment is moderate for an elementary serving this grade band. The campus sits outside Meridian's downtown core, in an area that is car-dependent by nature of the regional road network.
The student body is largely white, with a small fraction of students identifying as Black, Hispanic, Asian, or multiracial. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, lower than what many Mississippi elementary schools report. Information on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available in the data we received, so we cannot speak to those populations.
On Mississippi's state assessment, the MAAP, Clarkdale Elementary posts strong results across the board. In mathematics, most tested grades show well over half of students scoring proficient or above, with fourth and fifth grades standing out as particular strengths. Third and sixth grade math results are solid if slightly below the school's mid-elementary peak. English language arts follows a similar pattern, with fifth grade producing the school's highest ELA proficiency. One grade shows a sharper dip in ELA that a parent may want to look into further with the school, though the grade above it recovers to a solid level. Science results, available for fifth grade, are very strong, with the large majority of students demonstrating proficiency.
The state data system also includes seventh and eighth grade results under this school's identifier, even though the school's enrollment and stated grade range only go through sixth. Those results may reflect a connected campus or shared programs. Math and science at those grades are strong, and the eighth grade science result is among the highest in the dataset. Seventh grade ELA, though, shows a lower proficiency level that stands apart from the school's generally solid performance.
Meridian has a layered history. Publicly reported sources describe it as the county seat of Lauderdale County and the principal city of the surrounding micropolitan area. It grew as a railroad junction town at the crossing of two major rail lines and was for a period the largest city in Mississippi. The economy has since diversified into healthcare, military installations, and manufacturing. Naval Air Station Meridian and Key Field are major military employers, and Ochsner Rush Health is the largest non-military employer in the region. Peavey Electronics, a well-known audio equipment manufacturer, is headquartered in the city. The population has declined from its historical peak. Outside the downtown core, the area is largely car-dependent, and Clarkdale's highway-adjacent location reflects that pattern.
Several pieces of information a parent might want were not available. The dataset did not include a locale classification, Title I status, discipline data, course access details, staffing ratios, or attendance rates. No program offerings were listed. Housing values and rents for the immediate area were not provided. No comparison fact-set positioning this school against nearby schools was available. The district brief for Lauderdale County School District searched for recent parent-relevant changes but found little of lasting impact, so we left that out rather than guess. Because Clarkdale Elementary does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and the absence of that metric reflects the grade band, not a gap in performance.
What the available picture shows is a moderate-sized elementary school with a relatively stable student population and consistently strong academic results on state assessments, particularly in mathematics and science. The school's ELA results are strong in most grades, with one grade worth a closer conversation with the school. Families considering Clarkdale would be choosing a traditional public elementary in a small-city setting with a diversified regional economy and a community that has seen long-term population decline but retains civic and cultural institutions in its downtown core.
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