Chalybeate Elementary School, Walnut MS

Original Research by School Decision on Chalybeate Elementary School

Chalybeate Elementary School sits along a rural highway in Walnut, a small town in Tippah County near the Mississippi-Tennessee line. It is part of the North Tippah School District and serves students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The school draws from a community that is overwhelmingly white, with only a handful of students from other racial or ethnic backgrounds. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which reflects the broader economic profile of the area. Walnut's median household income runs low, and the town has seen a modest population decline over recent years, though local leaders have been working to attract industry along the Highway 72 corridor. Abby Manufacturing and Aluma-Form are the named local employers, and the town has been actively marketing industrial park land for new facilities. The built environment is highway-oriented, centered on the junction of two four-lane roads, with an older business district along a state highway. No walkability data, public transit, library system, or formal park system was identified in publicly reported sources.

On state assessments, Chalybeate's math results are a genuine strength. Across the tested grades, most sit at or above the point where a majority of students show proficiency, and seventh grade math is a particular bright spot. Fourth grade math is the softest of the group, with roughly half of tested students reaching proficiency. The overall math picture is consistent and solid through the grade bands, which speaks to steady instruction across the elementary and middle grades.

English language arts is more uneven. Fifth grade ELA is strong, and fourth grade is respectable, but third grade and seventh grade ELA lag, with fewer than half of tested students proficient in those years. Sixth and eighth grade land around the midpoint. This variability from grade to grade is something a parent may want to look into further with the school, especially if a child is entering third or seventh grade, where the results dip. Small tested groups in each grade mean that a few students moving above or below proficiency can shift the picture noticeably, so year-to-year consistency matters more than any single year's result.

Science results are the strongest part of Chalybeate's academic profile. Fifth grade science is a standout, with a large majority of students proficient, and eighth grade science is also solid. These results suggest the school is doing good work in science instruction, at least at the two grade levels the state tests.

The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. That is expected for a pre-K through eighth grade configuration and not a gap in the data. We looked for information on special education enrollment, English learner services, discipline, course access, staffing ratios, and attendance, but none was available in the provided data. Title I status was also not reported. Program offerings such as gifted education, arts, athletics, or career exploration were not included, so we left those out rather than guess. The district brief for North Tippah turned up no parent-relevant changes, no recent referendums or curriculum overhauls, and no property-tax shifts of note.

Housing in the Walnut area is affordable by both state and national standards. Home values sit well below the Mississippi state benchmark and far below the national one, and values have been appreciating at a healthy clip recently. Rent data was not available. For a family considering a move, this means housing costs are low relative to much of the country, and buying remains within reach for many households, though mortgage rates are elevated by current standards.

Chalybeate is a small rural school with strong math and science outcomes, inconsistent ELA results, and a student body that is not diverse. It fits families looking for a tight-knit, rural pre-K-through-eighth setting where they can stay through the middle grades, and who are comfortable asking the school direct questions about English language arts instruction and about supports the data did not capture.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 365%

School 65% · District 45% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median

Grade 451%

School 51% · District 43% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 37% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median

Grade 655%

School 55% · District 56% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 774%

School 74% · District 66% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 57% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 336%

School 36% · District 31% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 12 pts below state median

Grade 457%

School 57% · District 50% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median

Grade 574%

School 74% · District 53% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 51% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 8 pts above state median

Grade 737%

School 37% · District 33% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 40% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median

Science

Grade 583%

School 83% · District 62% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median

Grade 865%

School 65% · District 65% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median

This schoolNORTH TIPPAH SCHOOL DIST, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.