The top reported proficiency rate is 46% in Math. The lowest is 15% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on South Delta Middle School
South Delta Middle School sits in Anguilla, a small rural Mississippi Delta town in Sharkey County. The school serves grades six through eight as part of the South Delta School District. Its enrollment is small for a middle school, with all students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is nearly entirely African American, reflecting the broader community. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not reported, so those populations cannot be characterized here.
On state assessments through the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program, the most recent results paint a mixed picture that varies sharply by subject and grade. In math, proficiency rises meaningfully from sixth grade to seventh, where a clear majority of tested students reach proficiency, before settling to a middling level in eighth grade. English language arts tells a different story. Proficiency is low across all three grades, with the seventh-grade cohort particularly far behind. A parent seeing these ELA results may want to ask the school directly what literacy supports and interventions are in place, especially for students arriving below grade level. Eighth-grade science proficiency lands in a moderate range, below the stronger math showing but above the ELA results. Participation rates were not reported for any subject, and no multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent improvement or decline from prior years.
No graduation rate applies here, since the school does not serve high school grades. The same is true of college readiness or advanced course data, which a middle school would not typically report. Information on course access, staffing ratios, discipline, attendance, Title I status, and magnet or specialized programs was not provided. The school is not a charter school. A parent wanting to understand the academic program beyond test scores would need to contact the school directly, as the available data is limited to assessment results and basic enrollment figures.
Anguilla itself is a tiny, agricultural Delta community that has been losing population over several census cycles. Publicly reported sources describe a predominantly residential town with a majority African American population, low median household income, and a high poverty rate. The surrounding area is farmland. No major employers were identified in available sources, and no information turned up on parks, libraries, transit, or walkability. The town was heavily damaged by an EF2 tornado in late 2022, and no information on new housing or development initiatives was found.
The housing market reflects the economic context. Typical home values in the school's zip code sit well below both the Mississippi state benchmark and the national figure, and those values have been declining modestly year over year. Rent data was not available for this area. For a family considering a move here, housing would be inexpensive in absolute terms relative to most of the country, though limited inventory and declining values are part of the picture. The broader economic environment carries a national unemployment rate in a stable, moderate range, and mortgage rates remain elevated compared to recent historical norms.
The South Delta School District brief turned up no parent-relevant changes such as curriculum shifts, bond referendums, or property tax adjustments, so there is nothing to report on that front.
What emerges is a small middle school in a deeply rural, low-income community where test results run from strong in certain math grades to quite weak in English language arts across the board. Families considering this school would be looking at a close-knit, small-enrollment environment in a town working through economic and storm-recovery challenges. The academic data suggests real strengths in some math instruction alongside serious literacy gaps, and the absence of program, staffing, and support information means a parent would need to go to the school itself to fill in the picture before making a judgment about fit.
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